Cold Spell
by sonicking2004
Summary: When Elsa finally returned home to Arrendale, she thought that her adventuring days were behind her. However, when a talented young man shows up unexpectedly in her realm, she finds herself facing the greatest threat to her kingdom since herself, as a shadow from the boy's past threatens to destroy the future of all that she cares about. Takes place after Drago's Revenge.
1. Chapter 1: Much to Learn

**Much to Learn**

Harry's head throbbed as he searched through the snow and foliage, discarding in a pile twigs and the broken pieces of furniture that used to be in his parent's home. Of course none of it was ever alive, but Harry still found himself wondering if it felt as lost and out of place here as he did.

"I told you that going inside was a bad idea," Ginny gently chided him as she continued her own search in another area.

Harry sighed, knowing he had this lecture coming, as it was pretty much his fault that they were here, where-and-whenever 'here' was. "I know," Harry acknowledged.

"Of course I knew what that place meant to you, which is why I didn't fight you too hard on it," Ginny continued, "though it was only on the condition that you didn't touch anything that looked fishy at all."

"You're right, Ginny," Harry agreed, sighing again as he came across the broken remains of his broomstick. That was the third one he'd lost, not counting the toy broomstick he had as a child before Voldemort had first tried to kill him years ago, and this one was practically brand new too.

"And now we're stranded who-knows-where because you had to pick up a broken Time Turner," Ginny scolded him, though there wasn't as much heat in her voice as Harry had expected there to be, as much as he deserved.

He suppressed another groan as he recalled the moments that lead to them being here now. He and Ginny had been debating on whether or not he should return to the re-built Hogwarts to complete his education. Ginny pointed out that he practically didn't need to. Harry had accomplished some rather advanced magic during his quest to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes, not to mention the duels he'd engaged with the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself during the seven years that passed since he first learned that he was a wizard. In fact, practically everyone from the Ministry to Flourish and Blots was begging for him (the Boy Who'd Lived, Vanquisher of Voldemort, etc.) to come work for them. Even Mr. Olivander offered him a job in his shop, claiming that he was getting too old to run it by himself, though Harry suspected that Olivander had heard the rumors that Harry had inherited the Elder Wand and wanted to inspect it for himself.

That, in Harry's mind, was the whole problem. None of them wanted _him_, only the legend he'd become since he'd stopped Voldemort's reign of terror. Nobody, save perhaps Ron and Hermione (and them only barely), truly understood that he'd only gotten through what he had with the help of his friends, a great deal of luck, and because Dumbledore had manipulated the path he was on from behind the scenes. As for Voldemort, it was more like he self-destructed more than Harry doing anything special (beyond destroying the Horcruxes). There was still so much that Harry felt that he didn't know, and he wouldn't feel right accepting his dream job as an Auror, or any other, without anything less than a complete education.

So it wasn't a matter of if he would complete his education, but rather how. On one hand, he couldn't deny the appeal of returning to Hogwarts with Ginny, especially since they would logically be in the same year and maybe even be in the same classes together. On the other hand, he wasn't sure about returning to a place that held so many sad memories for him. Though he'd heard that they'd rebuilt it so that it looked much like it had before, that was still the place where he'd lost so many people that he cared about: Cedric, Dumbledore, Fred, Remus, Tonks and, though he didn't think so at the time, Severus. Though he never seen their ghosts roaming the halls when he was there, to Harry that place was still full of them.

That was what led Harry to taking the trip to his parent's house, where his sad story began, and convincing Ginny to go with him. He would have felt better, and less self-conscious, if Ron and Hermione had came with them too. However, Hermione had her hands full helping the Ministry officials track down her parents and undoing the memory charm she'd placed on them, and Ron went with her for emotional support.

When he'd found the Time Turner, Harry had felt himself drawn towards it, it's unique design convincing Harry it had to be his mother's, and he wound up reaching for it before Ginny could warn him otherwise. When he'd made contact, it began spinning out of control, and a powerful vortex began pulling in everything that wasn't nailed down or stuck in place with a Permanent Sticking Charm. Harry had managed to hold onto the edge of a counter against the pull, catching Ginny as she was sucked back towards him, before the rotted wood broke off in his hand and they were sucked into the vortex together.

His mind returning to the present, Harry felt a moment of relief when he finally found his wand in the snow, and it was intact, but that relief faded quickly when he found Ginny's broken wand right next to it, its halves holding together by its core. "I know, I'm sorry," he told her, "I just thought it might have belonged to Mom, or have been made by her. That's all."

"I understand, believe me," Ginny replied, and the sad look in her eyes as she accepted the broken wand from him broke Harry's heart. Harry swore to himself that he'd recover the Elder Wand from where he'd hidden it in Dumbledore's grave and use it to repair her wand when they found their way back. "Time Turners are dangerous enough when they're intact, though," Ginny continued, "and that one was broken by the very curse that destroyed your home, killed your parents, and would have killed you had it not been for your mother's protection."

"You're right, I was an idiot," Harry admitted as he used the tip of his wand to pick up said Time Turner, which he just located, and slipped it into his mole-skin pouch, "I should have been more careful."

"They shouldn't be fighting like this," Harry thought he heard someone saying in the distance, but before he could turn to look, Ginny placed her hand on his shoulder and smiled sympathetically as she said, "It's all right, Harry. We all make mistakes, the important thing now is to find out where and we are, how we got here, and how we can get back home."

"Did that girl just say 'when they came from', Grandpabby?" Harry heard a soft voice say from somewhere behind him, and this time he was certain he wasn't jus hearing things, "Just who are they?"

"Well I have an idea where we may be able to start getting some leads," Harry softly said to Ginny, and he saw her eyes widen as he adjusted his grip on his wand. Then he spun around, placing Ginny behind him protectively, as he flicked his wand and yelled, "_Lumos Maxima!_" The tip of his wand then flared into brilliance, and Harry caught a hint of movement at the edge of the clearing. Then as the light dimmed again to a normal brilliance, Harry's eyes adjusted again, but he saw no sign of the speakers. The only thing he found where he saw the movement was a number of rounded, moss topped boulders. Aiming the lit wand into the trees, where he saw a blue glow coming from somewhere within them, Harry called out, "Come on out! We know you're in there, so there's no use in hiding!"

For a moment nothing happened, and Harry started to think that he did imagine the voices and movement after all. Then he was startled when the boulders that he and Ginny had walked into the middle of had themselves shuddered and unrolled to reveal that they were not boulders at all. These creatures (assuming they really were creatures and not merely transfigured boulders) reminded Harry strongly of Dobby, though they looked nothing alike. Sure, the largest one was about 3 foot tall, and their faces looked kind like his, but that was where the similarities ended. These things' bodies were much more rounded than Dobby was, as were their large ears, and their skin still resembled the boulders they had disguised themselves as. They all appeared to be clothed in robes of material similar to the moss the boulders had on their backs, which were decorated with strings of glowing colored crystals, and had sprouts of grass for hair.

One of the creatures, whose thick head of grassy hair, caterpillar-like mossy eyebrows, and grassy mane around his neck that made him appear to be the eldest, cautiously approached them and raised his hand placatingly as he said, "Please, young man, lower your wand. My family and I mean you and your girl no harm."

Though this thing's words seemed sincere, Harry decided to take no chances in the event this was some dark wizard's trick, keeping his wand aimed at the speaker as Harry asked, "Who are you? _What_ are you?"

"My name is Grand Pabbie, and this…" the creature told him, gesturing at the others around him as he said, "…is my family of trolls."

Despite the situation, Harry could not help a short bark of laughter from escaping his lips. These things looked nothing like the trolls Harry had ever seen or read about, though they did somewhat resemble the ridiculous troll dolls Muggles had created for their amusement. "I'm sorry," Harry apologized, "but you guys are the furthest things removed from trolls I had ever known."

"Have you known many trolls, young wizard?" Grand Pabbie asked him curiously.

"Well, I have studied about them while at school, and a few had served as guards of sorts after Sirius Black broke in during my third year, then in my first year I had to fight one in order to save my friends' lives," Harry explained, "In general, they're all big, stinky, violent and dumb, and you guys just….aren't."

"I see. You must have encountered our distant cousins, the Mountain Trolls," Grand Pabbie said in realization, "We are Rock Trolls, and I think you'll find us a bit more capable and talented than our odiferous, violent relations."

"Rock Trolls? I don't think I've ever heard about you guys before," Harry said in confusion before turning towards Ginny and asking, "Have you?"

Ginny shook her head no, though her eyes seemed to be filled more with wonder than caution. Grand Pabbie, however, didn't seem surprised or concerned by this revelation as he told him, "That is because we keep to ourselves, not interacting often with humans, whether wizard or not. In fact, as far as I'm aware, only the royal family of Arendelle and a couple of others are aware of our existence."

"Arendelle?" Harry asked him.

"The land in which you now find yourself," Grand Pabbie explained, "In fact, the royal palace is not far from here, in the center of the town just down the mountain and across the fjord."

Harry found Grand Pabbie's cooperativeness and gentle nature comforting, and he relaxed just a bit as he said, "Grand Pabbie…"

"Please, young wizard," Grand Pabbie interrupted, "call me Pabbie."

The name was like a lance through Harry's heart, the similar sounding name reminding him afresh of the pain he felt at the death of his friend Dobby. Regardless, he lowered his wand arm to his side and extended his other to the Rock Troll, who took and shook it as Harry introduced, "I'm Harry. Harry Potter, and this is my girlfriend Ginny Weasley."

Pabbie smiled kindly as he shook Harry's and Ginny's hand in turn, saying, "A pleasure to meet you young Mr. Potter, Ms. Weasley."

"The pleasure's ours, Pabbie," Ginny said with her own smile.

"Oooh, you're pretty!" one of the younger trolls said as she took a couple of enthusiastic steps towards Ginny, "Are you and this young man going to get married?"

Harry thought he saw Ginny's face turn as red as her hair, and in spite of the wintery atmosphere around them Harry felt himself grow rather warm as well. Harry then cleared the tension from his throat, changing the subject as he said, "What did you mean earlier, when you said you guys were 'talented'?"

"Just as I said, Mr. Potter," Pabbie replied, "For instance, I know that you yourself have experienced more pain and suffering in your short life than most people should ever have to in their entire lifetime."

"Well, you don't need a special talent to know that," Harry told him, "Just pick up a copy of the Daily Prophet or one of Rita Skeeter's 'books'…"

"You misunderstand me, Harry Potter. Neither I nor mine has seen or heard of you before today," Pabbie gently interrupted again, "As you had suspected, this is not the time you're familiar with. Though the passage of time doesn't mean as much to us, I imagine that by your reckoning this would be somewhere in the late 1700's."

Harry was shocked by this piece of information. It was Ginny who found her voice first as she asked, "You mean to say that we've been sent over 200 years into the past?"

"So it would seem," Pabbie said as he stroked his grassy mane thoughtfully.

"Then how would you know about us, about me?" Harry asked him.

"That was due to the talent I possess," Pabbie explained, "You see, much like the House Elves your kind regularly use and abuse, we Rock Trolls possess and can perform magic without the use of wands, though our specialty lies in the area of healing and memory magic. Though we generally don't use it to impose on other's privacy, I could not help but feel your pain it was so strong, much like it was when I asked you to call me Pabbie. Sorry for that, by the way. I imagine you knew someone with a similar name?"

Harry took in a shaky breath as he answered, "His name was Dobby. He is….was a House Elf, and one of my closest friends. He sacrificed his life saving mine as he rescued me and my friends from Malfoy Manor."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Pabbie said sympathetically, then he waved his hands and Harry saw a stream of sparkles rise from his head and condense into a cloud before him. As he watched, a scene appeared in that cloud, and Harry saw himself and his friends around Dobby's grave at Shell Cottage just after they'd buried him. As he felt Ginny slip her arms around him comfortingly, much like she had back then, Pabbie continued, "You truly are not like others of your kind, showing such care, compassion and respect for a being others had dubbed a 'lower life-form'. To honor such a person as yourself, and because your pain is so great, I can offer to take that pain away: I can change this memory, as well as your other painful moments, into more happy and peaceful ones before returning them to you if you wish."

For a moment, as his body trembled with the tears he wouldn't shed and the sobs he kept from escaping his lips, Harry was tempted. Then he took a steadying breath and shook his head no as he said, "I thank you for your kind offer, but I must decline. My friend Dobby was brave and noble, and I would not dishonor his memory by choosing to forget or modify it in any way."

Pabbie nodded his understanding, and the cloud of memories returned to Harry's head as Pabbie said, "You truly are a noble wizard, whose wisdom far outstrips his years. If there were more like you in the world, then perhaps we wouldn't need to remain hidden. As it stands to the contrary, however, I must ask that you keep our existence a secret from your brethren, should you manage to return home. I'd send you myself if I could, but I'm afraid we have no talent with that form of magic, and I don't know who does."

Harry had no problem shaking his head in agreement, and he saw Ginny do the same beside him. Harry could see how some unenlightened wizards might misuse the Rock Troll's talents, and Harry had no desire to be the start of that practice.

Ginny then pointed off into the wooded area behind the trolls and asked, "Pabbie, what is that glow over there? Is that the town you mentioned?"

Pabbie smiled as he said, "No, my dear. That's just a stream."

"That's a stream?" Harry asked in surprise and disbelief.

"Yeah, and it's very pretty tonight!" one of the youngest trolls said enthusiastically, and as she gripped his hand with her tiny one Harry was surprised that her skin felt as hard as it looked as she tugged on his arm, saying, "Come on! Come see, come see!"

Harry did not wish to offend them, and if he was honest with himself he was rather curious as well, so he and Ginny followed the group through the trees until they found another clearing near the banks of a stream, which was indeed glowing. Harry had heard about brooks sparkling in the daytime, and he had the opportunity once to experience one while he and his friends were on the run during their quest for the Horcruxes. This was the middle of the night, however, and this stream wasn't sparkling so much as it was glowing blue. "How is it doing that? Is it enchanted or something?"

Pabbie smiled patiently as he said, "No, Mr. Potter, at least not as far as we know. The stream's glow comes from tiny algae flowing in it, which itself glows in resonance with the Northern Lights overhead."

Harry looked up and found the Aurora to truly be dazzling. Of course, growing up in a Muggle household, Harry had known about the existence of the Northern Lights, as well as what caused them to appear. However, reading about them and seeing them first hand were two entirely different things. As he looked, however, Harry saw something else beside the lights that made his jaw drop even as he heard one of the youngest trolls ask, "Grandpabby? What is that up there?"

"Oh my!" Pabbie said in a voice full of wonder, "That, child, is something I have not seen ever since I was as small as you are now, and even then it was a rare sight indeed. That is a very rare species of…"

"Dragon!" Harry cried out as the glowing beast swooped down towards them and he aimed his wand at it while most of the trolls rolled up into boulder form. Before he could think to cast a shield spell or anything, however, the bright blue dragon opened it's mouth and Harry rolled out of the way to dodge the misty breath that came out in passing. Ginny, however, wasn't as lucky, and she stood standing where she was as if Petrified once the mist around her cleared.

As the strange, glowing dragon circled around for another pass, Harry brought his wand to bear again, but when he felt the touch of his hand Harry looked down into Pabbie's pleading eyes as he asked, "Please, Harry, don't harm it. I know what experiences you've had with dragons, but they're truly noble creatures, and especially that breed in particular."

_Great, he's just like Hagrid!_ Harry groaned to himself. Aloud, he said, "I'll do my best, but I can't let it hurt Ginny either." Harry then focused on the dragon, which was swooping towards them once again, and he waved his wand and cried out, "Stupif…!"

Before he could finish the spell, Harry saw a flash of light and felt a severe pain in his wand arm. When he looked, he saw that arm from wand tip to elbow completely encased in ice. When he looked in the direction the blast came from, Harry's jaw dropped once again. Swooping down over the treetops was a beautiful young woman. Sliding down on an ice ramp that formed just in front of her, she had platinum blond hair and was wearing a powder blue dress that sparkled in the glow from the stream.

What stunned Harry the most about her, however, was that she didn't seem to be wielding a wand in either hand. In fact, the ice magic that was creating the slide bringing her down to the ground seemed to be coming directly from her hand, nor did she seem to be uttering any incantations. When she landed, the young woman aimed her hand at Harry, and she fixed her angry eyes at Harry as a ball of snow flurries formed in front of her palm as she tensely asked, "And just what do you think you were going to do to my dragon?"


	2. Chapter 2: Protective

**Protective**

Elsa was having mixed emotions about being back home right now. On one hand, she was glad to see her parents again and to see that Arendelle was no worse off for her absence (which turned out to be shorter than she'd thought it was). Even more so, she was glad to have Anna back in a place where there wasn't too much she needed to worry about hurting her, since Hans's brothers had him effectively under house arrest and the Duke had sworn to lose his title and leave Arendelle alone in exchange for her lifting the trade embargo with his realm.

The flip side of this, however, was the smothering effect she felt from everyone's concerned attention they were giving her and Anna. Elsa had expected that her being kidnapped by pirates would cause everyone, including the guards and her parents, some anxiety, and that they'd want to keep an eye on her despite her request that they get some quiet time to relax from their journey. However, the pressure she felt from the numerous regretful stares and the countless apologies she'd heard from the guards regarding their failure to protect her was getting to be too much to bear. Elsa wished that Julian had been able to remain here a while longer, as she had found his presence soothing despite her earlier agitation she'd briefly felt towards him back on Berk. However, having had experienced for herself the anxiety of being away from home herself, with no idea that she'd ever see it again, Elsa understood his desire to return to his quest for it and she'd simply wished him luck before he left.

Worse than the guards' overcompensation was the attentions her parents focused on her and Anna. They wanted to know everything that the three of them went through since Elsa's disappearance. Since she figured that Olaf had told them about their defense of Tink's island, Elsa focused on the basics of what happened afterwards: meeting the gargoyles in New York, traveling with Aang and his friends to Aion's cave, and their encounter with Hiccup and his fellow dragon riders in Berk. Since everyone was anxious enough about them already Elsa barely touched upon the more dangerous moments they had went through, but since they already knew about Anna's healed injury Elsa felt that she needed to tell her parents how she came about it. After all, Princess Azula was not likely around anymore, and she didn't need her parents hunting for someone who no longer existed.

While she had expected the shock and confusion in their eyes at this revelation, Elsa saw a hint of recognition in their eyes, as if they actually knew that name. She was curious at what exactly it was that they knew about her, but since they didn't ask, and because Elsa really didn't want to think about that horrible moment right now, she didn't press them any further.

After she downed a bit of supper Elsa excused herself from the table over her parents' protests that she'd barely touched it, simply wishing for the comfort of relaxing by herself in her room. Of course she couldn't help but pass by a good number of guards on the way there, far more than there would normally be this time of night (likely her overprotective father's doing, of course), and they all felt the need to apologize to her, so it took longer than she'd expected to get back to her room.

Before she could reach it, however, she came across yet another guard, who looked listless as he stood at attention a few feet away from her door. Since the day she had emerged from her self-enforced isolation, Elsa had did her best to become more social, trying to get to know everyone that she possibly could, especially the guards and servants that worked in the palace, so it took only a moment before she recalled that this one's name was Michael.

Elsa always had a fascinated fondness for Michael, though it was notably different from what she'd felt for Julian. For one thing, Michael was married, and apparently happily so from the way he carried on about his family. Elsa could understand that, since she practically fell for the lot of them the moment she met them. Elsa felt especially close to little Pearl, who simply adored Olaf and hugged him every single time they met. If anything, Michael was like the brother she never had, and the warmth and love she felt he and his family had for each other whenever she was around them had made her own ache, about not spending not as much time with her own family as a child, just a little less.

The smile that usually adorned Michael's face was conspicuously absent, however, and Elsa could tell from the look in his eyes that he was about to apologize like the others. Therefore it came as no surprise when he cleared his throat and said, "Your Highness…"

"Please," Elsa asked him gently, "call me Elsa."

Normally when she said this, Michael obliged her. However, he seemed rather reluctant to do so this time as he continued, "Queen Elsa, I beg for your forgiveness for failing you the night you were abducted."

"It's all right, Michael," Elsa assured him, "It wasn't your fault."

"I respectfully disagree, Queen Elsa," Michael told her, shaking his head, "I was on duty that night, so those pirates should not have gotten anywhere near your room. However, those scoundrels had got the drop on me, knocked me cold, and made off with you before I could do so much as sound an alarm. I can only hope to earn your forgiveness, but if you wish to exact punishment then I'd understand and accept…"

"Michael Sinclair!" Elsa interrupted him, cutting him off, then she sighed and continued more gently, "Tell me, Michael, have you been holding out on me?"

"I don't understand, your Highness," Michael replied in confusion, "Just what do you mean?"

"Holding out," Elsa clarified, "Do you have some gift, or 'curse', that you've never told me about? Can you see things before they happen, or feel the movements of people on the Earth beneath your feet? Can you shoot fire from your fists, release destructive blasts from your eyes, or see what's going on inside people's heads? Understand that I won't be mad if you had hid these talents, because I've concealed my own wintery gifts for years."

Michael blinked for a couple moments as he absorbed this, then he answered, "Not as far as I know, Queen Elsa. I've never felt I've been able to do anything like that before, at least."

"Well you, and the rest of Arendelle, know what I'm capable of doing, and yet I was utterly helpless to prevent the pirates from knocking me out and carrying me away," Elsa told him, "So I say again, unless you actually saw the pirates coming and didn't alert the other guards, then there was nothing you could have done. So don't worry about it, okay? What's done is done, and we'll know better for next time."

Michael sighed and nodded in acknowledgement, but Elsa could see from the look in his eyes and the way he held himself that there was still something bothering him, so she asked, "Was there something else, Michael?"

"Well, I probably shouldn't say anything…" Michael said in an uncertain tone.

"Michael…" Elsa urged him on.

"…it's just, you remember my eldest daughter Candice?" Michael asked her. When Elsa nodded yes, Michael continued, "Well her eighteenth birthday is the day is the day after tomorrow, and I was wondering, or hoping…"

Elsa smiled as she held her hand up to cut him off again, saying, "I haven't forgotten, Michael, and as I told you before all this happened you can go spend the day with her."

"Are you sure?" Michael asked her uncertainly, "It's just that with everything that's happened the King, or rather your father, had all the guard shifts increased."

"You just let me worry about my over-protective father," Elsa assured him, "I'll make sure that your shift is covered that day. The day a girl turns 18 is supposed to be very special for them, but all I remember of my 18th was that my parents weren't around anymore, having been lost at sea. I won't let your girl's day be similarly spoiled." When Michael still looked troubled, Elsa told him, "If you want me to make it a Royal order, then I will. Now cheer up already, the last thing I want is for your wife Maggie to think that I've been mistreating you or something."

Michael sighed, and the smile finally appeared on his face as he said gratefully, "Of course your Highness…I mean, Elsa. Rest well."

Elsa smiled and nodded as she said, "Good night, Michael." Then she opened her bedroom door and stepped inside, closing it behind her.

Now Elsa DID try to relax, she really did. However, she found her room to be rather stuffy and claustrophobic. In fact, the last time she actually found this room of her comfortable was….when WAS the last time she felt at home here? This room hadn't been hers until after that accident she had with her powers all those years ago, and back then she'd considered it a refuge to keep everyone she cared about from being hurt by her powers again. After she finally gained control over her powers she had made it a point to spend as little time in this room as possible, racing over to her sister's room (the room they once shared together) to get her up and spend as much time as they could together. Elsa had once briefly considered moving back into her room again, but the fact was that she was a young woman now, and her sister was on the verge of becoming a woman herself, so the days of their sharing a room has come and gone.

During her musings, Elsa had found that she'd wandered over to her window, so she opened it and looked out towards the North Mountain and the brilliant spectacle the Northern Lights were making in the skies overhead. Elsa chuckled as she recalled how it was on a night just like this when Anna had woke her to play in the ballroom. "The sky's awake, so I'm awake!" Elsa quietly quoted to herself, then she chuckled again. Elsa recalled that it was a result of that play that led to Anna getting hurt, but now that she had control over her powers she found herself actually able to focus on the good times they had then, rather than just on how it had nearly ended badly.

While see stared in that direction, she idly wondered how Aurora was getting on over there. Although she couldn't exactly see just where it was from here, Elsa knew that the stream with the algae Aurora fed on was over that way. Coming to the conclusion that she wasn't going to be able to get to sleep right away, Elsa decided that she'd head over real quick to check on her.

As she braced her foot on her windowsill and focused on her power, Elsa heard a voice behind her saying, "Sneaking out, are we?" Yelping in startlement, Elsa whirled around to see Anna smirking slyly as she closed the door behind herself. Forcing her breathing to slow, Elsa asked her, "Anna? How'd you get in here?"

"You had the lock removed from your door just last Summer, remember?" Anna reminded her, "That way I could come in whenever I needed to?"

"Yeah, that was a fine bit of judgment on my part," Elsa replied morosely, "I'm sure Black Adder's men found the lack of a lock to be especially convenient."

"Come on, Elsa. You can't think like that," Anna said to her, "We have gates and guards to protect us from things like that happening, we don't need to have things like locked doors coming between us again."

Elsa started to argue, but then she remembered how Michael was taking this stance just moments ago. "What are you doing up, Anna?" Elsa said instead, "You're supposed to be taking it easy in your room."

"I could say the same thing about you," Anna retorted as she crossed her arms, the wide grin still adorning her face.

"I'm not the one whose heart was stopped by lightning," Elsa said to her.

"No, you're not," Anna replied, ticking off on her finger as she continued, "You just fought against a crew of pirates, were involved in an auto accident, tortured by men in hoods, fought against a crazy fire-and-lightning-throwing princess, battled a dragon the size of a mountain…"

"Okay, okay, you're right," Elsa gently interrupted, "I couldn't sleep, so I was going out for a sec to check on Aurora."

"Sounds like fun," Anna agreed, "Give me a second to grab my coat and I'll go with you."

"No, Anna," Elsa told her, "You need to rest and heal."

"Oh come on, Elsa! Katara already healed me where Azula got me, and I feel just fine now," Anna protested, then she got a thoughtful look on her face as she said, "I just realized that she and Mom have the same name. Weird, huh?"

"I never thought about it," Elsa admitted, then after a moment she said, "It's probably just a coincidence."

"Maybe," Anna conceded, "Anyway, why should you be the only one to go and see your dragon? I'd like to go see Thunderhead too."

"Well there's a good chance that Thunderhead's out in the ocean somewhere, getting himself something to eat, and that's a lot of area to look. I don't feel like being out all that long," Elsa reasoned, "At least we know about where Aurora will be eating, as there aren't too many streams that run near your boyfriend's home."

"Okay," Anna said dejectedly, looking down at the floor. Elsa smiled sympathetically as she crossed the room to place a hand on Anna's shoulder, saying as Anna looked up, "I'll tell you what: if I come across where Thunderhead's made his nest, then I'll come back here and get you. Okay?"

"Really?" Anna asked hopefully.

"Yes, but only if you go back to your room and get some rest in the meantime," Elsa told her, "And if I DON'T happen upon his nest tonight, then we'll head out tomorrow after breakfast and look for it together. Deal?"

"Deal!" Anna agreed as she hugged her, "Don't stay out too late, okay?"

"I'm supposed to be the big sister here," Elsa chuckled, "but okay."

After one more warm squeeze, Elsa turned and headed back towards the window. Then, after she looked back and gave Anna one more smile as she backed out the door, Elsa hopped out the window onto an ice slide she just formed and soared off into the night.

* * *

As it turned out, it was even easier to find Aurora than Elsa had originally thought it would be. Of course she had already known the general area where her dragon would be feeding, and once she was a couple minutes in Aurora's glow acted like a beacon to her, Elsa's eyes picking her up easily as Aurora swooped below the treetops and back up again.

However, it soon became apparent to Elsa that something was wrong. Even though it seemed that Aurora was in the general vicinity of the stream, which was glowing brightly from the algae within, Aurora did not appear to have been down there long enough to eat it, nor was her glow any brighter than when she had flown off at the harbor. Furthermore, the way Aurora was circling now reminded Elsa of how she acted back when Drago was commanding her to attack Hiccup and Astrid, which was in itself strange as there was no way he was here in this time and place.

Straining her eyes in the darkness, Elsa was able to spot in the glow of the stream the source of Aurora's agitation. Over next to the stream, near some rounded and moss covered boulders, were a couple of figures, and from their manner of dress it was clear that they were not from around here. One was a red-haired young woman, and from the position she was holding it seems that she had been frozen that way by Aurora's paralyzing breath. Standing before her was a young man, and from the faint gleam she saw it appeared that he was wearing some sort of glasses upon his face.

It was hard to pick up much in the way of details from this distance, but Elsa saw that the young man was holding something in his hand even as he kept his eyes trained on Aurora. It looked like it might have been a stick of some sort, but the way he held it made it appear like it was some sort of weapon. She couldn't be sure that was what it was, but with everything strange and unusual that she's seen on her travels Elsa felt that she could not take any chances, as she was not about to let anyone hurt Aurora.

Tamping a lid on her rage that threatened to boil over, she saw the young man wave his stick-thing towards Aurora as he started to say something, but she had already unleashed an ice blast at him. Her aim was perfect, and the young man cried out in pain as the hand holding the stick was covered in ice up to his elbow. When he turned towards her as she landed, Elsa saw that the young man was indeed wearing some rounded eyeglasses on his face, and that over his right eye he had a scar shaped like a lightning bolt. Not sure if she could trust the stunned expression on his face, Elsa prepared an ice blast and did her best to keep her anger out of her voice as she asked, "And just what do you think you were going to do to my dragon?"


	3. Chapter 3: Confrontations

**Confrontations**

As he stood rooted in the snow, Harry couldn't tell what hurt worse: the burning cold of the ice covering his wand arm, or the wound to his pride caused at being caught off guard and entirely flatfooted. Of course, greater than those pains was the concern he felt for Ginny, who had recovered from her paralysis and was now standing defensively in front of him. Harry knew just how skilled she was, but with her broken wand stored in his moleskin pouch she had as much of a chance of warding off the ice spell the finely-dressed witch was aiming at them than Harry could with his wand still frozen in his hand. Of course he was still rather fascinated by how she managed to cast the spell with neither wand nor incantation, seemingly just casting it from her bare hand, but his fear about Ginny getting hurt overshadowed that fascination at the moment.

"Just stay back!" Ginny said fiercely, neither her stance nor her voice betraying any fear over facing off with a powerful opponent unarmed, "Don't come near us!"

"Look, I'm not into attacking anyone unprovoked, but your friend was about to attack Aurora with that….whatever than stick thing is," the platinum-haired witch said just as fiercely, "Now I'll ask you once again, just who are you people? Why were you going to attack my dragon?"

"Your dragon?" Harry asked in disbelief, trying to keep his voice steady even as his teeth wanted to chatter from the cold. Was everyone in this place like Hagrid? "Your dragon attacked us, froze Ginny," Harry explained, wondering if it would be worth the risk to cast a spell even with his hand and wand covered with ice, "We were only trying to defend ourselves from it."

"Aurora attacked you!?" the ice witch responded with equal parts suspicion and bewilderment, "Just what are you people talking…!?"

"Your majesty, stop, please?" Pabbie the rock troll asked fervently as he hobbled around from behind Harry, "There seems to be some misunderstanding here."

"Grandpabby?" The young witch addressed him in a bewildered tone, though Harry heard in it a small note of relief even as she dropped her arm and focused on the wizened creature, the ice spell fading from her palm as it was aborted.

"Your Highness, it is good to see that you are well and whole," Pabbie addressed her as he reached her, grabbing her hand and touching it to his forehead as he bowed slightly as he continued, "We were all concerned when we'd heard that you were abducted by pirates."

"Well I'm safe now, thanks largely to Tinker Bell and Anna, and though the journey was much rougher than I'd like we all managed to make it back mostly okay," the young witch responded.

"That does this old heart good to hear, Your Majesty," Pabbie said with a kind smile. Then he cast his eyes skyward, to where the glowing dragon was hovering a short distance overhead, and said, "Now, Your Highness, did I hear you correctly when you said that this beautiful beast was yours?"

The young woman looked upwards as well, and she smiled as she gestured beseechingly towards it. At her gesture, the neon blue dragon swooped in gently for a landing next to the woman, and Harry felt the urge to push Ginny protectively behind him as the dragon growled at them, but even though he saw Ginny shiver she still didn't budge. The strange sorceress showed no fear towards the large beast however (which Harry noticed, for the first time, was wearing a sort of saddle), and she fondly stroked its head in between its ridge of quills as she said to the elder rock troll, "That's right, Grandpabby. Aurora and I met when Anna, Kristoff and myself had ended up near the isle of Berk, and we bonded shortly afterwards. After we flew and fought together, Chief Hiccup convinced me that it would be better if she stayed with me rather than if I left her back there alone, so I brought her back home with me. Anna brought a dragon herself, but he's a Thunderdrum, so he's probably out in the ocean having his fill of fish right now."

"I see," Pabbie acknowledged as he stroked his grass-like beard thoughtfully, "It sounds as though you and your sister have been though quite a thrilling adventure. I'll be happy to hear about it when you have the time, and when you feel up to it you can tell me of the pain that now shrouds your heart as well."

Harry though he saw a flicker of that pain in the woman's eyes at the mention of it, but she merely smiled kindly at the troll as she said, "of course." She then focused her penetrating gaze on Harry as she said inquisitively, "Now, young man, you said that you were defending yourself when Aurora attacked you?"

"That's correct….um, Your Majesty was it?" Harry responded.

Elsa nodded as she said, "I am Elsa, Queen of Arendelle."

Harry bowed as much as Ginny's position and the awkward weight of his frozen arm would allow as he introduced, "I am Harry. Harry Potter. And this is my girlfriend, Ginerva Weasley."

"Ginny. A pleasure to meet you, Your Highness," Ginny said with a curtsey.

Queen Elsa nodded as she gave Ginny a polite smile, then she focused again on Harry and raised an inquisitive eyebrow, prompting Harry to continue, "After an….accident, Ginny and I had found ourselves lost in your land when Pabbie and his clan of rock trolls found us. They had showed us to this strange river when your dragon swooped upon us and paralyzed Ginny with its breath. I swear, Your Majesty, I wasn't planning on hurting it. I only wanted to drive it off with stunning spells, to stop it from hurting Ginny while she was helpless."

Queen Elsa probed his gaze for a moment longer with her own, then she sighed as she said, "I think I understand. Aurora wasn't attacking, she was merely hungry and she probably thought you two were threatening her meal, so she was defending it."

"Her meal?" Harry asked in confusion, and he had to admit he was rather curious as well.

Queen Elsa nodded in confirmation, then she looked over at the dragon, which still had its distrustful gaze fixed on him, and said soothingly, "It's okay, girl. Go on now."

The dragon looked up at Elsa, its expression becoming gentle and affectionate for a second, then it narrowed its eyes at Harry and gave him a short warning growl. Then the dragon kept its gaze on Harry as it strode to the side towards the riverbank, only breaking eye contact as it voraciously snapped at the river itself, the dragon's glow brightening as it did so.

"The water?" Harry asked in curiosity.

"The algae in it, actually," Queen Elsa gently corrected him, "From what Hiccup and his mother told me, Flightmare dragons like Aurora pretty much live off this special algae. It seems as they were not able do much studying of it, however, as the Flightmares were apparently rather rare even back in their time."

" 'Back in their time'?" Harry asked her, stunned, "Wait, are you telling me….are you lost in time too?"

"No," Queen Elsa answered him, then she corrected, "Well, we were: Sven, Kristoff, Anna and myself. However, with a little help, we had managed to finally make it back home. Are you saying that you two currently _are_ lost in time?"

Harry considered for a moment how much he should tell her. On one hand he didn't know exactly what the laws were regarding time travel, save for that the Ministry regulated it very strictly. However, he had seen enough time travel movies to have a good idea of what disasters could result by revealing too much about the future. On the other hand they had already revealed quite a bit to the trolls here, and it seemed this queen had already been through a similar experience.

Deciding to take a chance that Queen Elsa might be able to help, Harry chose to be cautious about what information he revealed as he said, "Ginny and I are from the year 1998, where I had found a broken Time-Turner in the ruins of my parents' home. I admit I wasn't as careful with it as I should have been, and as a result it exploded and blew us back here, to your time."

"I see, sorry to hear that," Queen Elsa said as she fiddled with a pendent around her neck, and from her tone it sounded as though she truly sympathized with his plight. She looked lost in thought, but before she could say anything else Harry let out an involuntary grunt of pain as he felt a twinge from his hand still trapped in the ice. "Oh! Sorry about that," Elsa apologized in realization, then she released from her hand a gentle stream of snowflakes that flowed over towards him. When the flakes made contact with the ice on his arm, the ice broke up and changed into snowflakes itself, floating up with the rest of the stream into the sky. Finally, when his arm was completely free of the ice, the snowflakes gathered overhead in the sky into one giant snowflake before breaking up and vanishing entirely. "There," Elsa announced, "all better."

"Thanks," Harry said gratefully, feeling the pins and needles in his hand begin to fade as it started warming up again. Then, after tucking his wand into his back pocket, Harry started flexing his sore fingers as he said, "So, you seem to be rather proficient with magic, exceptionally so. So I was wondering, Your Majesty, if it wouldn't be too much trouble if we could ask you to send us back home to our time."

Queen Elsa let out a short bark of a laugh, and in that small note Harry heard volumes of pain and irony as she said, "I only wish I had that kind of power, then Anna and I wouldn't have needed to go through what we'd just experienced, and I wouldn't have come so close to losing her."

Harry gaped at her for a moment, then he said uncertainly, "But, your power…?"

"I only have command over ice and snow," Elsa explained regretfully, "I'm afraid that I have no power over time, nor any other form of magic. Sorry."

Harry and Ginny looked at each other in confusion for a moment before Ginny turned back and asked, "Hadn't any wizarding schools ever approached you or your parents about your enrollment, to teach you to control your powers?"

Elsa shook her head no as she said, "Ever since I had an accident as a child, in which Anna got hurt, I kept myself locked in my room until a few months ago, when I was crowned queen. As for my parents, they were lost at sea before I became 18, and they remained so until very recently. I've never even heard of this 'wizarding school', just what is that?"

Harry stared at her in confusion and disbelief. He of course knew that most Muggles lived in complete unawareness of the wizarding world, with only those who had witches or wizards as close relations being among the notable exceptions. The laws designed to protect them all dictated that it be so. However, the law (at least back in England) does make provisions for those in a position of power (like Queen Elsa) to know of the existence of magic and all that entails. Not to mention that Elsa was anything BUT a Muggle, so it seemed inconceivable that Elsa didn't know about it.

Then again, Harry himself didn't know that magic existed, that he himself was a wizard, until the day he turned 12 and got his first letter from Hogwarts. Of course his Aunt and Uncle tried to keep it from him, intercepting and destroying every letter that came. They even tried fleeing to an abandoned lighthouse to keep his and their lives "normal". However, nothing, not even a loaded shotgun, could prevent Hagrid from delivering Harry's letter, and his birthday cake, personally. On the other hand, since Elsa was currently Queen it made sense that her parents would be Royalty as well, and so they would have greater power to prevent such a contact from happening.

Thinking about this reminded Harry of a similar situation, that of Dumbledore's sister Ariana. Like Elsa, Ariana also suffered a traumatic event with her powers, resulting in her keeping them bottled up and being unable to control them. Apparently fearing that she would be sent to St. Mungo's for life if Ariana's condition were discovered, her father went to Azkaban for the rest of his life for killing the boys responsible for attacking his daughter, and her mother moved to where nobody knew them, raising Ariana in complete isolation (to the point where almost nobody outside the family knew there was a daughter).

This isolation lasted past the point where another accident with Arianna's powers killed her mother, with Albus himself taking over her care, until the day Dumbledore fell into a disagreement with his brother Aberforth and his best friend Grindelwald. This disagreement turned into a terrible duel, and when Ariana tried to stop the fighting she wound up dead. Harry had to wonder, however: If Ariana had lived, if the duel that killed her never took place, would she have ended up like Queen Elsa?

Shaking himself out of his reverie, which apparently didn't take as long as it seemed, Harry responded to Queen Elsa's earlier question, "Don't worry about it. You said that somebody helped you and your sister to get home. Would it be possible to contact him to help us too?"

Elsa stopped fiddling with her pendant, frozen in that position for a moment, then she dropped both hands to her sides as she responded in a morose voice, "That might be….rather difficult. The one who helped us is no longer here, you see, and to get back here could prove equally challenging."

"I see," Harry said, feeling deflated. He dug into his pockets and felt a very slight relief to discover he had a few gold Galleons there. Even though it wasn't likely that anyone here would accept Galleons as currency, the fact that they were made from gold ought to make then spendable regardless. With luck, he'd be able to get them a room for the night, as well as some provisions and a horse they could use to seek out a witch or wizard that could help them. "Well, thank you all the same," Harry told her, "It was nice to meet you and your dragon. If you'll just point out the way to the nearest Inn, then we won't take up any more of your time."

Elsa appeared to consider for a moment, then she began to point out a direction before she pulled up short, saying instead, "Wait. If you two are up for a little walk, then I can lead you to the Palace."

"The Place?" Harry asked, not sure that he'd heard her correctly.

"Yes, my home," Queen Elsa confirmed, "We have plenty of guest rooms there, set aside for dignitaries from other kingdoms who arrive on missions of diplomatic importance. We can set you guys up in a couple of them for the night, then in the morning we talk things out with my family, figure out what can be done to help you."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked her, not wanting to appear needy or anything, "We have plenty of money."

"Please, I insist. I feel badly for how I first reacted to you, it's the least I can do," Elsa said fervently, "Besides, if someone hadn't offered to help me and my friends out when we first got lost, then we'd still be lost in New York….or worse. I might not have the power to get you kids back home, but maybe we can set you on the right path."

"Thank you," Ginny said, "but we couldn't po…"

"You are very generous, Your Majesty," Harry interjected, "We accept and thank you."

Ginny flashed him a look, but before Harry could read her expression she'd already looked away. Queen Elsa, however, gave Harry a kind smile as she said, "You're quite welcome, Mr. Potter. And please, call me Elsa."

Harry nodded and said, "Harry."

Elsa then nodded in acknowledgement as she said, "Well then, Harry, if you guys will follow me…" Elsa then bent over to kiss her dragon on the top of its head, which had finished eating and was now curled up to take a little nap, then she led the way away from the river and through the woods.

A couple minutes into the trek Harry noticed that Ginny was being very quiet. Of course Harry hadn't noticed earlier as Elsa wasn't exactly being talkative either, but as Ginny was keeping pace about one step ahead of , and making an obvious effort to not look his way, it bothered him. "Ginny? What's wrong?"

"What do you mean? There's nothing wrong," Ginny denied, though the flat tone she said it in and the fact she still didn't look at him made it obvious that something _was_ bothering her. After a couple more moments of walking in silence, Ginny remained looking forward as she remarked, "She's awfully pretty, you know."

"Who?" Harry asked her in confusion.

"The Queen, of course," Ginny remarked matter-of-factly, still keeping her gaze on the path ahead.

"You mean Elsa?" Harry guessed, then he shrugged as he said noncommittally, "I suppose so."

"And powerful," Ginny added in the same even tone.

"I guess," Harry shrugged, "Just with ice magic, though."

"That's probably just because she's never had any formal training," Ginny reasoned as she trudged on, "but it takes real talent to use magic with any real purpose without a wand. I bet if you gave her a wand and a proper education, then she could possibly become even more powerful than Dumbledore and Voldemort combined."

"I hadn't thought about it that way. You could be right about that, Gin…" Harry started to say, then he felt like slapping himself in the face as realization sank in. "Of course, why didn't I see this sooner? You're feeling jealous," Harry remarked, then he reached out towards her reassuringly as he said, "Ginny, you don't hav…"

Apparently this was the wrong thing to say, however, as she stopped and whirled to face him, her eyes wide with outrage, as she bellowed, "Jealous!? You think that I'm jealous of her!? You….YOU…!" Ginny then clawed at the air between them, apparently at a loss for words. Then she dropped her balled-up fists straight to her sides, whirled back around, and stalked off at a faster pace staring straight ahead and closing the lost distance between her and the Queen as she bellowed back at Harry, "Harry Potter, you may be known as the Chosen One, but you clearly still have a lot to learn!"

Harry just stood and watched her march away from him for a moment, shock rooting him in place. Then, as mobility returned to him, he followed after them as he muttered morosely to himself, "This day just keeps getting better and better."


	4. Chapter 4: Apperception

**Apperception**

Elsa was feeling pretty rotten, certainly nothing like the beloved Queen everyone in Arendelle told her that she was. After Ginny's outburst, which had echoed loudly in Elsa's ears despite that she was some distance away, they walked on through the woods in a mostly awkward silence, although Harry seemed to make what appeared to be a couple attempts at an apology (which came out as mere wordless noises due to him cutting himself off short, apparently rethinking what he had to say).

Then, an ice bridge and a few curious looks from townspeople who were still out later, Elsa and her guests finally arrived at the palace. The guards seemed rather confused as to how she came to be reentering the castle (they hadn't seen her leave, after all, due to her flying from her window), but after she announced that Harry and Ginny were her guests and would be staying here for the next day or so the guards let then in without further incident. Elsa then showed them to the guest rooms (separate ones that were next to each other, as Harry and Ginny didn't seem to be married and appeared to be somewhat young to be sharing a room together), Ginny stiffly thanked her for hospitality before marching into the room and practically slamming behind her.

A second of silence followed, then Harry thanked Elsa awkwardly as well before going up to Ginny's door and knocked softly and asked to be let it, for her to talk to him. When the door showed no signs of opening and no sounds came from within, Harry slumped to the floor with his back against the door and placed his head in his hands, a look of regret on his face. Although she didn't think she had done anything wrong (save for her attacking them when she thought they were attacking Aurora), Harry looked so miserable that Elsa felt guilty anyway.

"That looks awfully familiar," Elsa heard behind her, and she whirled around to find Anna standing behind her, looking past at Harry against the door. Then Anna focused on Elsa, giving her a curious smile as she said, "Welcome back, Elsa. You certainly weren't gone long. So, who are they?"

Elsa found herself surprised by Anna's sudden appearance and rapid-fire statements and questions, but at the same time she felt her enthusiastic curiosity and energy to be a pleasant distraction. "Their names are Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, and they seem to be a pair of young enchanters I found lost over by Aurora's stream."

"Enchanters?" Anna said enthusiastically, her eyes lighting up, "You mean that they have powers like you?"

"I suppose so," Elsa said, uncertainty entering her voice, "I mean, I didn't actually see them use any powers or anything, but Aurora seemed to be rather agitated by Harry and the stick thing he had in his hand, and Harry did say he was going to try and defend himself and Ginny from Aurora by using 'stunning spells'."

"A 'stick thing'?" Anna said thoughtfully, "You mean like a wand?"

"You know something about it?" Elsa asked, to which Anna shrugged and replied, "Since I had some time alone on my hands, about thirteen years of it, I've done a bit of reading. In fact, I probably know more about the royal library and this castle itself than I do my own sister."

Elsa cringed at the reminder of how she shut Anna out after her accident. "Oh Anna," Elsa apologized remorsefully, "I'm so sorry!"

Anna shrugged again as she smiled and said, "That's okay, it's all in the past. You trust me now to help out, and that's what matters. Anyway, the book I'd read said that these witches and wizards would use wand, as well as the occasional potion cooked up in a boiling cauldron, to perform all kinds of spells. It says that they can even fly around on brooms too!"

"Huh," Elsa said as she glanced over at Harry, who didn't look in the mood to be getting up and heading into his room anytime soon, then she focused on Anna again as she asked, "Did it say anything about them going to a school to learn how to use their magic?"

"I don't think I read anything about that," Anna said thoughtfully, "It seemed in them that these witches and wizards mostly learned from books or from each other."

"I see," Elsa replied as she mulled it over in her head, "Well, Harry did say that they were lost in time, just as we were until we made it back here. Maybe these magic schools simply weren't around until closer to Harry's time."

"Actually, they were," Elsa heard behind her, and she whirled around to see Harry standing behind her. He still looked tired and upset, but she heard little evidence in his voice as he continued, "Hogwarts, the school I attended, had been established about 1000 years before I first went there, and from what your trolls tell me we haven't been sent back nearly that far."

"So you think that I should've gotten contacted by this Hogwarts, asking me to attend, as well?" Elsa asked.

"Actually, in your case, it probably would have been Durmstrang, as they're much closer from what I can tell, and they're almost as old as Hogwarts," Harry corrected, then he paused thoughtfully before adding, "Well, unless your parents are Muggles, that is."

"Muggles?" Anna asked in confusion.

"Muggles are people born without magical abilities," Harry explained, "Of course Squibs also have either weak or no magic as well, but they're born into magical families. Anyway, Durmstrang has a policy against admitting Muggle-born students, so if your parents are Muggles then that'd explain why you never received a letter from them. Still, you should have been contacted by Norway's Ministry of Magic the first time your power manifested."

"Maybe your Ministry simply doesn't reach quite this far right now?" Elsa guessed.

"Huh. Maybe," Harry conceded, "Magical History was never my best subject. Maybe Hermione would have known." Harry sighed. When his sigh turned into a yawn, Elsa suggested, "You should get some sleep. We can talk more in the morning, and perhaps Ginny will be calmed down enough for you to apologize then as well."

Harry glanced longingly at the door to Ginny's room before looking back at Elsa and saying, "I suppose you're right. Well then, good night Your Majesty….I mean, Queen Elsa."

"Rest well, Harry Potter," Elsa replied, which Harry answered with a bow before turning and entering his room, closing the door behind him. Elsa then turned herself and walked back down the hall, and Anna walked beside her and asked, "You heading back to bed too?"

Elsa nodded as she answered, "After a quick stop at our parents' room. With how on edge our father is right now, due to what happened to us, it's probably best if he doesn't learn about our guests the hard way." Of course talking with Harry left Elsa with some questions of her own she wanted to bring to her mom and dad, but she figured those could also wait until morning.

Anna then yawned and said, "Okay then, well I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Elsa."

Elsa hugged her sister and said, "Sweet dreams, dear Anna." Then Anna entered her room as Elsa continued on towards her parents' room.

* * *

When Harry awoke the next day he felt refreshed, his head so much clearer. After performing a quick scouring charm on his clothes (as he didn't exactly bring a change with him when paying a visit to his parents' place), Harry dressed and exited his room, turning to gently knock at Ginny's door, saying, "Ginny? Are you up? It's me, Harry." When Ginny didn't answer he tried again, "Ginny? Look, I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean to imply that you were jealous, I was just trying to tell you that you didn't have to be. Even if Queen Elsa wasn't of limits by about 200 years, the fact is that you are the one I've chosen to be with. Anyway, I'm sorry if I've hurt your feelings. Forgive me?"

For a moment there was no response, then the door opened a crack, revealing Ginny's tear-splotched as she muttered, "Sure."

"May I come in?" Harry asked, then when Ginny backed away from the door he opened it the rest of the way and stepped inside. Once in the room, Harry saw that Ginny had apparently found a dress in the wardrobe in her room and changed into it. A rather simple outfit, and rather old fashioned by standards in their time, it still looked rather elegant on her. In fact, Harry found her so beautiful in that dress it was almost but not quite enough to distract him from the fact that her eyes were red from crying. As he knew she hardly ever cried, this caused Harry's heart to lurch as he went over and hugged her comfortingly as he said, "Oh Ginny. I'm so, so very sorry."

Ginny sighed, but her tone was lighter as she replied, "Don't be, I'm the one who overreacted. I guess I was just on edge with us being stranded in this time and place with no wand, then there was the encounter with that strange dragon, and finally our encounter with Queen Elsa. It was all just a little much all at once, plus if I was honest I was a tiny bit jealous that a prodigy like Elsa just happened to look as good as she did as well."

"Well, like I said, you don't have to worry about her, because I choose you," Harry assured her, pulling back to look her in the eyes, "Anyway, if beauty and brains were all I was looking for in someone, then I might have went for Hermione a long time ago."

Ginny gave Harry a curious smile as she asked, "Yeah, what about that? Why_ didn't_ you decide to go out with Hermione? I mean, as you said yourself, she's smart and beautiful, and since you both grew up in Muggle families you have much more in common with her than you do with me."

"I don't know," Harry admitted, "I guess I just never felt that way about her. While we were always close friends, the affection I felt towards her was more sisterly in nature. Why do you ask? Are you feeling je….concerned about her too?"

"Nice save!" Ginny said with a chuckle, then she remained smiling as she answered, "I suppose that I did feel somewhat threatened by her my first year. After all, Hermione had no problem being outspoken, while I would always clam up and run off when I was around you. Add that and the others to the fact that you and she had been practically tied to the hip along with Ron your first and second years, and I guess that led me to the conclusion that you and she would end up together. Of course that all changed my second year, when the Dementors in our train compartment brought back my horrible experience of being possessed by Tom Riddle the previous year. Hermione was a great comfort to me back then, and I suppose that's what made me feel no longer jealous of her, that I felt then that I could trust her as a friend and confidant. Of course the fact that I was the first one to whom she admitted that she liked Ron also helped."

"Really?" Harry remarked. Of course he'd seen hints of the feelings Ron and Hermione had for one another, but to think that Hermione had revealed those feelings to someone else before she had confessed them to Harry (after the public display Ron had made with Lavender Brown during the victory party following their Quiddich match against Slytherin) he found this truly interesting.

Ginny nodded as she added, "And, as you may remember, Hermione gave me some very good advice about how to go forward with my relationship with you. So, yeah, my jealousy of Hermione lasted maybe half a year at most, after which she became my best friend."

"I see, well that's good to hear," Harry said with a smile, "I really wasn't looking forward to what the result of a cat fight between you and Hermione would be." This comment sets Ginny to laughing, and Harry affectionately kisses her on the nose. Then a reflected glare causes Harry to shield his eyes and look towards the window, where he sees just how light it's getting. "We should be getting downstairs," Harry told her, "Breakfast should be ready about now, and we don't want to keep our host waiting."

Ginny nodded her understanding, so Harry took her hand in his and he led the way out of the room.

* * *

As Anna and her sister arrived at the Dining Hall, she wondered if she should go up instead to invite Harry and his friend to join them. The fact is that this was the first time they had a guest here that wasn't a royal dignitary of some sort, and sending a servant up there instead felt a little too impersonal to Anna.

Before she could come to a decision as to how to approach this, Anna saw Harry and his friend Ginny descending the staircase towards them. Harry was dressed much the same as he had been upon arrival, and yet to Anna's eyes he looked different. It was a moment before she realized that it was due to the fact that he looked much happier than he did back then, as well as the fact that his clothes looked much cleaner.

As for Ginny, Anna noticed that she was now dressed in the winter outfit Anna had purchased from Oaken's Trading Post the day she had chased after Elsa when she was fleeing from her own coronation. At first she wondered how this girl had gotten it, then she recalled that she had it stashed in the wardrobe of one of the guest rooms the night of her parent's return, prior to her sister being abducted by the pirates.

She had hid it there because, after the initial euphoria of being reunited with her parents had worn off somewhat, she remembered how they would insist on her dressing like a lady, regardless of how such attire might impede the less ladylike (and more fun) activities she wanted to participate in. Additionally, if any outfit had begun to look less than their best, Anna would find that they had disappeared from her own wardrobe (thrown out, she suspected, by the servants on her parent's orders). However, this dress had great sentimental value to Anna, as it represented to her the time she and Elsa truly become close sisters again. So she hid it there as there was less of a chance of it disappearing on her, which made it an amazing coincidence that Ginny would end up being shown to that particular room as well as her finding that dress.

"Good day, dear friends," Anna's father greeted them from behind her, "Welcome to our home. I was just about to send for you."

"Thank you for your generous hospitality, sir," Harry said with a bow.

"But of course, Mr. Potter," Anna's mom returned with a curtsey, "Any friend of our daughters is always welcome."

"You're too kind," Ginny replied with her own curtsey.

Well, shall we?" Elsa suggested as she gestured towards the Dining Hall, and in silent agreement they all made their way inside and took their places around the table. It was set with all sorts of dishes, as if this was a dinner held for dignitaries from another kingdom rather than a couple of citizens Elsa had let stay here, but Harry and Ginny didn't seem hardly fazed by this feast at all. Anna wondered if they could, with their magic, conjure meals like this at will.

As if he had been reading her mind, Anna's father asked Harry, "So, my daughter Elsa tell me that you two have powers much like she does?" Harry and Ginny stopped eating and looked at one another then, a cautious look in their eyes as they glanced around the room. "Is something the matter?" Anna's dad asked them in concern.

"My apologies, sir, but….the servants…" Harry said with a meaningful look towards them.

"Huh? Oh, of course," Anna's dad said before clapping twice, and at that signal all the servants bowed and left the room.

"I'm sorry about the secrecy," Harry said once there was just the six of them, "It's just that the Ministry of Magic has very strict laws concerning Muggles learning of the existence of magic."

" 'Muggles'?" Anna's mom asked, to which Elsa answered, "He means people who don't have powers."

"But my husband and I have known of Elsa's gifts for years, as did Anna before her memory was altered," Anna's mom said in confusion, "and I understand she had recently learned about it again, and none of us can do the things Elsa can."

"Yes, but the Ministry makes special exceptions in the cases of close family members of potential witches and wizards," Ginny explained, "However, the law mandates that Muggles without such close relations be left unaware of the existence of the wizarding world, for their protection as well as ours."

"But we've never heard of this Ministry before," Anna's father confessed, "otherwise we might have sought them out for help with Elsa. And, according to Elsa, our people have known about her gifts for months, after she'd accidentally revealed herself to everyone, and no contact from this Ministry has ever been made."

"Really?" Elsa asked them, "You've never received a communication from someplace called Durmstrang or anything?"

"Not that I'm aware," Anna's father replied, "What is this 'Durmstrang'?"

"It's a school for witches and wizards, much like the Hogwarts I came from," Harry told them, "But like I told your daughter last night. It's not likely you would have been contacted by them, as Durmstrang doesn't admit students with two Muggle parents, as you seem to be. Still, I find it very strange that the Ministry wouldn't have contacted you to at least enroll her in either Hogwarts or Beauxbatons, let alone allow such an egregious violation of the Statute of Secrecy pass without so much as a warning or even sending someone to muddle your peoples' memories of that event."

"Well perhaps this Ministry's influence doesn't reach over here in this time," Elsa had suggested.

"Yeah, I suppose that would be the only explanation that makes sense," Harry reasoned, "Of course that would make contacting anyone for help rather difficult, as anyone that we know won't even be born for at least 100 years."

"Yeah," Anna said, reflecting on how she felt when they were hundreds of years from anyone they knew, "I guess you can't just write a letter to them, asking them to come and take you guys home."

"A letter…?" Harry said slightly confused, then his eyes lit up brightly as he stood and exclaimed, "That's it! Anna, you're a genius!"

"I am?" Anna responded, confused as to what she had contributed.

"Wait," Elsa said in clarification, "Are you saying that you _can_ send a letter through time?"

"Not exactly, but I can have it delivered to Hogwarts, which _is_ currently there at this day and time," Harry explained, "I'll include instructions for the headmaster to hold it until the year 1998, at which time it would be delivered specifically to Professor McGonagall."

"But what would she be able to do?" Ginny asked him.

"Ginny, she's the headmaster of Hogwarts!" Harry replied, "At least she was, so if anyone would be able to successfully petition the Ministry for a Time Turner powerful enough to take her back here and bring us back home, then it'd be her!"

"Harry, that's brilliant!" Ginny said, catching on, "However did you come up with it?"

"I saw a movie about it once," Harry told her, "To this day, I still can't get Johnny B Goode out of my head."

"Then you have my full support," Anna's father said as he also stood from his chair, "What do you need?"

"Just some parchment, an inked quill, and a bit of string," Harry told him, "I'll also need to call up a postal owl, but that I think I can manage on my own."

Anna's father nodded, then he clapped to summon the servants back in. As her father spoke in a low voice to them, Anna overheard Ginny whisper to Harry, "But Harry, what if the Ministry intercepts that letter?"

"I doubt that they'd have any reason to," Harry responded in just as low of a voice, "But even if they did I imagine the end result would be the same. Sure we might have to answer some uncomfortable questions, but I doubt that they'll want us sticking around in this time to possibly mess things up." Harry then smiled widely as he gripped Ginny's hand in both of his, saying, "This is it, Ginny! We're going home!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the woods, Grand Pabbie unobtrusively observed the latest intruder in their woods. Though he carried the same air of strangeness that Harry and Ginny had, Grand Pabbie could tell that this stranger was nothing like them. There was a thick air of menace around him, as dark as the robe the man wore, so Pabbie was thankful that his people had the wisdom to not approach him, to remain hidden like he himself was.

Grand Pabbie watched as the man pulled a stick from the pile of rubbish Harry and the girl left behind, which from its smoothness Pabbie guessed must have been part of a broken handle, before the man tossed it back in the pile. Then he pulled a wand from the sleeve of his robe and pointed it at the pile, a flash of magical energy flying from its tip to obliterate the rubbish, just before Pabbie heard a voice emerge from under the emotionless mask the man wore, saying, " 'The Boy Who Lived'? Not for much longer!"


	5. Chapter 5: Broken

**Broken**

As they walked deeper into the woods, Elsa asked Harry, "So you've _never_ been to New York?"

"I've never even left Europe," Harry told her, "what with my studies and trying to not be killed by Voldemort and all. Of course I've been interested in traveling to the States and checking out the American National Quidditch Team in person."

"Yes. Ariel Singleton is a rather talented Seeker," Ginny agreed, "and their signature move _The Harlem Shuffle_ is very entertaining to watch."

" 'Quidditch'?" Elsa asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"It's a sport witches and wizards play," Harry explained, "It involves two teams on broomsticks, as well as hoops on stilts and different types of balls. It's kind of complicated to explain to someone who's never been exposed to it before, but it's as much to watch as it is to play, although being struck by a Bludger isn't that much fun."

"I see," Anna commented, looking to Elsa as if she were intrigued by this conversation, "Your world sounds awfully fascinating."

"Yeah, I suppose I felt the same way after Hagrid first brought me my letter from Hogwarts," Harry replied, "but I find the journey you and Elsa say you were on earlier to be even more fascinating. The places you've been to, the things you've seen, I've never even heard of such things. You've experienced more in just a couple of weeks than I have in the last six years. Of course I'm sure that you would have preferred to leave some of the more unpleasant aspect of those travels out of it, but I would have loved to experience such sights myself."

Elsa considered that for a moment. Ever since was abducted and taken to Neverland, Elsa's primary focus had been on trying to get back home. Through the fear and the uncertainty, that goal as well as her efforts to keep Anna safe wound up being the forces diving Elsa during that time, the only thing she could focus on. However, now that they were back home and safe once more, while Elsa found she could more easily focus on the pleasanter aspects of their experiences. While she could have done without ever meeting Azula or the Quarrymen, Elsa had made some good friends along the way, and though she may never see most of them again, she didn't think that she would trade those experiences for anything.

It seemed that Anna's thoughts were mirroring her own, as she rubbed her chest and commented, "Yeah, I didn't much enjoy being shot by lightning, but I did get a pretty sweet dragon out of the deal."

"Having had my own brush with death, I think I can relate," Harry said as he touched the scar above his eye, "Of course coming back from that has made be appreciate life just a little more."

The way this talk was heading was making Elsa feel a little uncomfortable, so she cleared her throat and said, "So, this owl that you were going to use to deliver your letter, you think you'll find it around here?"

Harry looked around him and said, "Yeah, I think this will be far enough."

As Harry pulled out his wand and held it somewhat aloft, Anna asked, "So any owl can deliver letter for you guys?"

"Yes….and no," Harry answered her, "It's true that owls are rather clever, and that their strong affinity to magic allows them to find the recipient of a letter even without an address. However, they still need to be trained to carry those letters. I've only ever had one owl, Hedwig, and I get the feeling that she had been trained before she was sold to me. I'm not sure how I'd train one from the wild."

"Oh, then why did we come clear out here?" Elsa asked him

"The Statute of Secrecy, of course," Harry explained, "I know that you said that your kingdom is aware of your powers, that they know of the existence of magic, they still are very strict about the use of magic around Muggles. As much as I'd like for me and Ginny to find a way back home, I'd rather do so with my wand still intact."

Harry then concentrated and the tip of his wand began to glow. For a moment nothing seemed to be happening. Just as Elsa was getting ready to ask if they needed to go somewhere else, however, she heard a screech from behind her and she turned to see a large Barn Owl soaring down towards them. Of course she'd seen a few like this in the woods around her home at night, but Elsa could have that she saw extraordinary intelligence in the eyes set in the mask-like feather pattern on its face as it landed gently on Harry's outstretched arm. Harry fed it some scraps that he'd brought from breakfast this morning, then it transferred over to a nearby branch and remained still while Harry tied the letter to its leg.

"Okay, we need you to take this letter to the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Harry told it, "_Only_ to the Headmaster. Got it?"

The owl chirped once in reply, then it took off flying, vanishing just as quickly as it came.

"Wow," Anna breathed.

Harry nodded in agreement, a note of sadness in his voice as he said, "I don't think I'll ever get used to it either."

The tone of loss she heard there tugged at Elsa's heart strings. Then, as an idea came to her, Elsa smiled and said, "Say, I think I know what might cheer you up."

* * *

As Elsa and Anna soared through the skies with their respective passengers, Elsa had to admit that there was more to Harry Potter than she'd gathered with her first impression. At first she had felt a concern about how this new encounter would go, especially considering that Aurora appeared reluctant to trust Elsa's guests and began to growl at them. However, to his credit Harry kept his wand tucked away this time, bowing respectfully until the growling stopped (Elsa had never thought to do this herself), then he slowly approached before stopping halfway and held his palm out to the dragon, remaining there until Aurora closed the distance and touched her snout to his palm.

It turned out that Ginny had some surprises of her own, as Elsa didn't think she'd want to be the one to ride with her on Aurora, considering how she'd beef frozen be her on her first encounter. Maybe she was trying to give Elsa's friend a second chance, to show Aurora that there was no hard feelings. On the other hand, Elsa guessed that Ginny might not totally be over the bout of jealousy she'd displayed the previous night, preferring instead that Harry ride with Anna on Thunderhead.

Either way, Elsa took it easy in their flight as she felt Ginny's arms tremble around her waist. "You sure you've never ridden a dragon before?" Elsa asked in concern.

She felt Ginny shake her head as she answered, "I've rode a Threstral before, however. Gotta say, I find this much easier: much easier when you can actually see what it is you're riding. How long have you been riding?"

Elsa chuckled as she considered the question, answering, "Actually, this is my second time."

"Second?" Ginny asked in surprise, though Elsa wasn't sure why she was since they'd just described the moment they'd met their dragons just minutes ago. She supposed that the thrill of the takeoff had caused her to forget for a moment.

"Well, third actually, but my second riding Aurora," Elsa corrected herself, "Of course I suppose that it helps that the first two times were in the heat of battle, and Toothless was clearly experienced with having people ride him."

"Yeah, I suppose that'd help," Ginny agreed, and Elsa felt the shaking of Ginny's arms lessen greatly.

As they flew, Thunderhead quickly crossed their path closely overhead, and Elsa heard Harry crow of exhilaration as she caught sight of him with his arms stretched out to either side, and Harry's shout was soon echoed by Thunderhead's own air-shaking roar.

"They seem to be having fun," Elsa remarked.

"Harry's probably recalling the times that he's ridden on Buckbeak," Ginny explained, then she cleared her throat uncomfortably as she hesitantly said, "Listen, I just wanted, you know, to say I'm sorry. About how I acted jealous before, I mean. I admit that I can act rather possessive when it comes to him, and I nearly lost him so many times before in so many ways, the last time being when he went into the Dark Forest to sacrifice himself to Voldemort in order to save all of us. I guess I'm just not ready to face the possibility of losing him again."

"I understand, really. It's okay, so don't worry about it. You're lucky to have someone like him," Elsa assured her, reaching up to briefly touch the pendant Julian had given her as she did so. Then she saw how low the sun was getting in the sky, surprised that so much time had passed. "We should catch up to my sister to let her know we need to be heading back," Elsa told Ginny, "You up for going a little faster?"

Ginny nodded as she tightened her grip on Elsa's waist, saying, "Let's go."

* * *

As they headed in for a landing at the Valley of Living Stones, they saw that Kristoff was already there &amp; he appeared to be having a very serious and intense conversation with Grandpabby.

"Are you sure?" Kristoff asked in a concerned tone.

"I am certain, my boy," Grandpabby responded in a just as concerned tone, "You must promise us that you'll try to avoid a confrontation with him, as I fear he may be far too dangerous an adversary even for you."

"What's going on?" Anna asked him as she dismounted Thunderhead, Harry hopping off right behind her.

"It would seem that there's another wizard in the vicinity," Kristoff told her, "and from what Grandpabby says it looks as though he's not nearly as pleasant an individual as your two guests."

"It couldn't be someone from the Ministry," Harry said to himself aloud, "We just sent off the owl a couple hours ago."

"No indeed, Mr. Potter," Grandpabby agreed gravely, "This man arrived sometime after you did, before the sun rose, and while I've made it clear how little I trust your kind, you and your friend being the exceptions, the malevolence I felt from him was unlike anything I've ever felt from anyone. Whatever means it was that brought him, it's clear he's here to bring you harm."

"What did he look like?" Harry asked him.

"I did not see his face, as he kept it hidden beneath a mask," Grandpabby told him, "but he wore a long black cloak that covered him from head to toe."

"A Death Eater," Harry growled, and Elsa was surprised to see Harry's expression darken from the rage in his eyes. When Harry saw the unspoken question in Elsa's gaze he turned towards her and explained, "Death Eaters are dark wizards who served under Lord Voldemort. As a group they despise Muggles and Muggle-born witches and wizards. Even half-bloods, witches and wizards born with one magical and one Muggle parent, are beneath their contempt, although that's ironic as Voldemort himself was a half-blood. They're ruthless and will stop at nothing, not even torture or murder, to achieve their goal, which is the domination of 'pure blooded' wizards over Muggles."

"But Harry, I thought that the Ministry had rounded them all up after the Battle of Hogwarts," Ginny said with a troubled voice.

"I guess a few slipped through the cracks," Harry reasoned, "It wouldn't be the first time, as a few Death Eaters managed to escape being sent to Azkaban the first time Voldemort fell, back when the curse he used to try &amp; kill me as a baby backfired."

Elsa didn't like what she was hearing about these "Death Eater" people, as they sounded even worse than the Quarrymen she ran into in New York. "If this Death Eater had managed to track you down here…?"

Harry nodded as he answered, "…then it's possible that the people in the village below could be in trouble. There are any number of spells he could use on them in his attempt to obtain information on my whereabouts, none of which would be pleasant for those they're worked on."

This decided things for her, as Elsa spun around and raced over and leapt onto Aurora's back. "Wait, your Highness," Grandpabby called up to her, "Perhaps it would be best if you waited until help could come…"

"No! There's no time!" Elsa protested, "We don't know when or if anyone will respond to Harry's letter, and any time spent waiting could add up into even more people getting hurt or worse. I didn't endure unimaginable pain and uncertainty traveling back and forth through time to get back home just to stand by while someone tears my world apart."

"Then I'm coming too," Harry told her, "I was too young to stop Voldemort from killing my parents, there's no way I'll let history repeat itself with one of his flunkies."

"Count me in," Ginny added as Anna nodded in agreement.

"I'll be right behind you guys," Kristoff chimed in. Then, after Harry, Anna and Ginny boarded the dragons and Kristoff climbed on Sven, they all raced off before Grandpabby could utter another word of protest.

* * *

As the village came into view, Elsa also heard the terrified screams of her people rising up from it, prompting her to urge Aurora to go even faster. When they got close enough to land, Elsa could see the cause of the commotion: a man dressed just as Grandpabby had described was standing in the courtyard just outside the palace gates, his right hand holding aloft a wand that was aimed at a woman floating in the air above and in front of him. The woman's face was set in a rictus of pain, her mouth open in a scream that refused to come. If it weren't for the fact that her limbs were still twitching and writhing, her chest still rising and falling in a series of rapid breaths, then Elsa would have thought this woman already dead.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," the man greeted him nonchalantly when he spotted him, as of he were not the cause of all this fear and chaos, "About time you showed up. I was beginning to fear that I'd miscalculated about the time to arrive, that you'd already moved on without me."

"What is he doing to her?" Elsa asked Ginny quietly, who responded just as softly, "It's the Cruciatus Curse, the 'torture curse': it's one of the three 'unforgivable curses', the use of which would land the user with a lifetime sentence in the wizard prison Azkaban."

Just the word "torture" had Elsa's blood boiling, and so she barely heard Harry as, with steel in his voice, he asked the stranger, "Just who are you? Why are you doing this?"

"You mean you don't recognize me? I'm hurt, Potter," the man responded in a mocking tone that made it clear he didn't care all that much about whether or not Harry knew him. Then the man waved his wand in front of his face, causing the mask covering it to vanish in a wisp of black smoke, revealing what would have been a handsome face were it not twisted into a cruel sneer as he said, "Gideon Hewett, at your service."

"Who?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Really? Nothing?" The man responded, sounding for a moment as if he cared that Harry didn't recognize him. Then he shrugged and continued in his nonchalant tone, "I suppose it doesn't matter. My anonymity had served me well enough, allowing me to escape the Ministry's round up, and soon enough everyone will know my name, when they fear to speak it as much as they once dreaded the name of Voldemort. By the way, Potter, did you like that little present I'd set up for you in that home of yours?"

"You?" Harry asked in a dawning awareness that was changing into intense anger, "You rigged that Time Turner there for me?"

"Of course!" Gideon answered in a gloating tone, "Did you think that a simple Time Turner, even one broken by a curse, would be powerful enough to send you and that simple girl of yours to a place like this, let alone one owned by that filthy Mudblood mother of yours?"

Elsa had no idea what a "Mudblood" was, but whatever it meant must've been pretty bad as Harry's face twisted into a hateful snarl, and from the way his body tensed Elsa guessed that he would have charged right at Gideon had Ginny not placed a gentle restraining hand on his shoulder. Gideon carried on as if he hadn't noticed Harry's reaction, however, as he turned slowly in place, the tortured woman still floating where she was, and he said, "Isn't this place wonderful! I couldn't believe it when I came across the records of its existence during our occupation of the Ministry! An entire community completely outside of the Ministry's influence or control! Yet the evidence lies before us. I've lost track of how long I've been 'questioning' these Muggles about your whereabouts, and yet not a single Auror has showed up to say 'Boo' about it. It's perfect! Of course, once we had full control of the Ministry and squashed any remaining resistance I'd planned to bring what I'd found to the Dark Lord's attention, but you put a stop to that, didn't you Potter?"

Elsa briefly wondered why her guards hadn't tried to do anything about this evil man. Then, out of the corner of her eye she spotted them just inside the open gates to the palace, pounding uselessly on an invisible barrier that was apparently preventing them from leaving. The man then faced Harry once more, that infuriating smile on his face, as he continued, "I'm aware that even before we took control of the Ministry, as is our right, that you've clashed with them on a number of occasions, so you should be grateful that I've chosen this location to be your final resting place. And when I return to my time with your broken wand as proof that you're gone I'll restore the Death Eaters to their former glory, who will surely in turn name me the new Dark Lord."

"I think not," Elsa told him in a steely voice, finding her voice again and unwilling to remain quiet any longer, "You will release that woman from your power and leave this kingdom empty-handed, while I still allow it." Elsa's statement was seconded by Aurora and Thunderdrum, who came up on her flanks and growled menacingly at Gideon, as well as by Ginny, Anna and Kristoff, the latter of which hefted his souvenir Viking War Hammer and said, "We've got your back."

"No," Elsa responded, "You guys need to leave this to me and Harry. We'll handle it."

"But Elsa…" Anna started to protest.

"No buts," Elsa interrupted her, "This isn't like anything we've ever faced before, and you guys simply are ill equipped to deal with it. Maybe Ginny would be able to help if she still had her wand, but as it stands you'll only get hurt or worse if you remain. The sooner you guys get out of here, the sooner we'll be able to send this guy packing and get back to you." Aurora and Thunderhead gave her a questioning growl, but she smiled at them and said assuringly, "It'll be okay guys. I can handle this, and I'll call you when I need you."

Aurora and Thunderhead gave her one more murmuring growl as the nuzzled each of her outstretched hands, then they lifted off into the air. They seemed reluctant to stray far, however, as they merely went to perch on the rampart encircling the fjord and kept a watchful gaze on her from there. Before Kristoff and the others could either oblige Elsa on her request or argue further, however, Gideon said to her, "I don't know who you are, lady, but you best be taking your own advice. That is, of course, unless you wish to be sharing Potter's fate."

Elsa turned back towards Gideon and, in a tone she'd developed from years of practice, she said to him imperiously, "I am Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, and everyone in this land is here under my protection, and that includes Harry Potter and his friend Ginny Weasley."

"Well then, Your Highness," Gideon said with a mocking bow, "that should make you even more compelled to leave Potter to me, otherwise the only kingdom you'll be ruling will be one of the dead. You have absolutely no idea what you're dealing with."

"No you are the one who doesn't know what you're dealing with," Elsa countered, "I've already said that Harry and Ginny are under my protection, and if you will not leave on your own then I'll make you leave!"

All traces of humor left Gideon's face then, leaving behind only hate and contempt in his eyes as he snarled, "So be it, then!" The woman who'd been trapped in the Cruciatus Curse dropped to the floor then, but Elsa suspected that Gideon hadn't released her because he was conceding but rather that what he was preparing now simply took more of his concentration.

Gideon then drew his wand up and behind his head as he said, **_"Avada…"_** and Elsa focused on her own power as Harry readied his own wand. Before either of them could get anything off, however, Elsa heard a man crying out from behind her, "Look out, Your Highness!" just before a heavy collision struck her in the middle of the back and sent her flying forward. The momentum of the impact caused her to run into Harry, sending the both of them toppling to the ground as Gideon cried out,**_ "…Kedavra!"_** As she fell, Elsa saw a streak of sickly green light fly from Gideon's wand, barely missing striking her in the shoulder before it hit something behind her, the light briefly flaring brighter before vanishing completely.

As Elsa hit the ground, she heard the rattle of metal on stone, giving her the impression of a man in armor collapsing, just before someone screeched in horror. Leveraging herself up to see behind her, Elsa froze in place and felt her heart stop at what she saw. Lying there on the ground, his wide eyes unseeing, was her friend Michael Sinclair.

For a moment Elsa just laid there , frozen in disbelief, as none of this seemed real to her. After all, weren't all the guards stuck within the palace behind Gideon's barrier? Also, despite the glassy unseeing stare Michael was giving and the fact that he was clearly not breathing, Michael showed no signs of the injury that apparently took his life (unlike Anna, whose dress hid the scar of where she had been struck by Azula's lightning). However, before hysteria could cause her to retreat fully from reality, Elsa recalled that this morning, before she and Anna headed out with Harry and Ginny, she had informed Michael that he was to go home early today, so as that he could prepare properly for Candice's birthday tomorrow. Also, judging by the haphazard way his armor was draped on his frame he must have removed it all just before Gideon showed up and started making trouble, then he'd hastily started putting it back on.

Then the tense moment was utterly shattered as Candice, tears streaming down her face, ran to where her father had fallen, falling to her knees as she frantically shook his shoulder and pleaded, "Dad! Daddy, get up, please! Dad!" Meanwhile, little Pearl was crying piteously in her mother's arms, who was standing nearby with her hand over her mouth as she sobbed, "No! No, Michael!"

As the family gathered together in their grief, Elsa found herself reflecting on her own memories of him: How he would cheer her up in the days after her coronation by reminding her of the good times she'd spent with her family before her parents' passing. How he would tell her stories about his own family until she felt she knew them nearly as well as her own.

She even recalled a memory (or was it a dream) of a time before her accident, where she thought she had a little crush on Michael. Of course she'd spent much of the dark time from then till she became Queen in isolation, so she hardly ever seen or even thought of Michael then, and once she'd reentered society and saw Michael again she certainly didn't feel that way towards him, so she couldn't be sure that old memory was real.

Regardless of the age difference, however, Michael never treated her as someone who was young enough to be his daughter, but rather as one of his oldest and dearest of friends. Now, however, he would never again trade stories with her, never again laugh at some well-meaning blunder she'd made in trying to socialize with others, and Elsa's relationship with Michael's family would now be forever altered because…

"…he's dead," Elsa said aloud, and as she turned her red-tinted gaze towards Gideon the temperature dropped so sharply that a tear froze in the corner of her eye before it could escape down her cheek, "You killed him!"

"And unless you want to end up like your guard there you'll stop stalling and give me Potter!" Gideon retorted, his demeanor clearly indicating just how much danger he was in right now. Harry, however, was clearly beyond angry as scrambled to retrieve his fallen wand and spat, "You lousy, murderous son of a…!"

"No," Elsa said softly as she grabbed his wand arm, and Harry flinched from the coldness of her hand and her gaze as she continued, "He's mine." Elsa then drew herself to her full height and focused her glare on Gideon as she slowly advanced towards him and said, "That guard's name was Michael Sinclair, and he had been serving my family loyally since before I was born."

"Like I care about that," Gideon said defiantly, though Elsa took a small amount of vindictive pleasure in the fact that he was backing away, "Now give me Potter!"

"His wife, Maggie had been faithfully married to him for the last 20 years," Elsa continued in the same tone, and in the corner of her eye she saw her people instinctively shrinking back from the growing radius of ice that formed around her as she continued her steady advance, "His youngest daughter, Pearl, had just turned five years old a couple of months ago."

Gideon's eyes began widening in fear, and as his breath became visible in the air he pointed his shaking wand at Elsa and stammered, "Wh-wh-what are you? St-Stay back!"

"His eldest daughter, Candice, was turning 18 tomorrow," Elsa continued, and she saw snowflakes forming in the air around her, though she refused to let them fall, "I had let her father have that day off, so that he could spend it with her as he should. I was even planning to spring on them a special surprise, so as to make Candice's special day truly memorable. Now, however, it doesn't matter what I do because, like me and mine, the only thing she'll remember about her 18th was it was the first day her father wasn't there anymore."

"Keep away from me!" Gideon cried out, sounding truly terrified now, "Stay back….or I'll kill you!"

"What gives you the right to take Michael's life, to take him away from his family?" Elsa asked Gideon, her voice hardening like the ice on the ground around her, "What gives scum like you the right to kill Harry, or to kill anyone else for that matter? Michael cared for his family more than anything else in the world, but all you care about is yourself and your twisted values! If anyone deserves the cold of the grave, then it is you!"

Gideon, his back against the wall, raised his wand with a desperate look in his eyes as he cried out, **_"Avada…!"_**

Before he could finish, Elsa snapped her arm forward, and a blast flew from it and struck Gideon, completely encapsulating him from head to toe in a form-fitting coffin of ice. For a moment she just looked at him there stuck in that pose, unable to move or speak or even breathe. Then she waved her hand again and the ice around Gideon's head vanished. Immediately tears started streaming down his face as he desperately screamed, "PLEASE!"

Elsa looked at him in disgust as she said, "From what I understand, this Lord Voldemort was a formidable individual. Despite his failings, which were many, he never sought quarter anymore than he gave it, and you think that you're up to taking his place? Pathetic."

Elsa looked towards Harry, who'd strode up beside her, for confirmation. Harry nodded as he kept his gaze focused on Gideon, who was still stuck in his killing pose and sobbing pitifully, as Harry said, "Tom Riddle was a homicidal psychopath who sought to make the world cower before him under the name of Voldemort. All he cared about was his power and ensuring his own immortality. However, even in that final battle, when he knew all of his Horcruxes were gone and he could be killed, he never gave up, never backed off, and never laid down his wand in surrender. Had he applied his energies differently he might have been a great man, but even in death you're not one tenth the man he was." Harry then looked directly at Elsa and asked, "So what will you do with him?"

"As Queen I have the right to order his execution, in recompense for his killing Michael," Elsa explained as she turned her cold gaze on Gideon's terrified one, "and right now I'm sorely tempted to carry out that order myself. However, I'm like neither him nor Voldemort, and besides I don't feel like having his carcass polluting our grounds. So, for now…" Elsa then waved her hand again, and a thin band of ice came around the back of Gideon's head and completely covered his mouth. She then faced Harry again and asked, "Can this Azkaban of yours hold him?"

"It could back when the Dementors guarded it, before Voldemort broke his followers out of there and the Dementors defected to his side," Harry told her, "But even if Azkaban is no longer in operation I'm sure that the Ministry has some place where he'll never see the light of day again. Of course, that's assuming that we can get him back there."

"Wait guys, do you hear that?" Kristoff said as he came up towards them, cupping his had around his ear as he asked, "Is that thunder?"

Indeed Elsa did hear a rumbling sound that seemed to be getting louder, but it didn't sound like thunder, nor was like the booming roar of Anna's dragon. Yet, despite the strangeness of the sound, it still sounded familiar to Elsa, like something she'd heard not too long ago.

Harry's face brightened, however, as he said, "I would know that roar anywhere!" He then scanned the skied for a moment before he fixated on an area in the direction of the North Mountain, pointing that way as he cried out smiling hugely, "There! Look!"

Elsa did, and her jaw dropped at what she saw. Moving through the air towards them and closing fast was a quartet of figures, one of which was noticeably larger than the others. The three smaller figures appeared to actually be flying in on broomsticks. The larger one, however, seemed to be flying on some sort of bicycle, except this contraption didn't have any pedals and had some sort of cart-like attachment on the side, and it was this thing that all the noise seemed to be coming from.

As they came in for a landing, Elsa could tell just how big the big guy was, beating out even Stoic the Vast and his friend Alvin for the largest man Elsa had ever seen. However, though the size of the larger man, as well as the manner of the quartet's arrival, might be enough to intimidate or even frighten most people, it seemed as if Harry and Ginny couldn't be happier to see these people.

"Hagrid! Ron! Hermione! What are all you guys doing here?" Harry asked them as he hugged the big guy, or at least put his arms as far around him as he possibly could, looking like a little child in comparison.

"Well, when Minerva told us that something had happened to you and you were in trouble, well there was no way were just going to stay at home and wait for her to bring you back, now were we?" the big guy responded.

"Exactly, Harry," the young man who looked like he could've been Ginny's older brother agreed, "Did you think after we spent all last year hiding out in the woods, running from Death Eaters, hunting and destroying Horcruxes, and nearly dying more times than I care to count, that we'd leave you and my sister hung out to dry now?"

"Well I'm really glad to see you here, Ron. You too Hermione," Harry said as he hugged the young man and young woman together. However, as he approached the older woman in the severe attire, his enthusiasm seemed to die away rather rapidly, although Elsa supposed the stern glare she was leveling at him had a lot to do with it. "Hello, Professor McGonagall."

"Harry," McGonagall replied in a clipped tone as stern as her gaze.

"Am…am I in trouble, Professor?" Harry asked her

McGonagall barked a quick laugh devoid of humor before responding, " 'Trouble', he says! A major understatement if ever I heard one. Not only had you broken practically every rule associated with the Statute of Secrecy, but you also managed to violate a few concerning time travel as well! You've risked the exposure of our world, and even worse you've gotten us involved in it now."

"Sorry," Harry muttered.

"You took an awful chance with that letter you sent, harry Potter," McGonagall reproached him, "You are incredibly lucky that headmistress Dilys Derwent was intrigued by the fact it was addressed to a headmistress who had yet to be born more than she felt the obligation to turn it over to the Ministry itself. If they had sent an Auror here, I assure you they would've taken your wand and snapped it on the spot, and you would be lucky if you ever saw home again." At that moment Gideon made a sound that was muffled by the ice gag still covering his mouth, which drew her attention to him. McGonagall then gasped and asked Harry, "Did you do this, Harry? In full view of all these Muggles?"

"No, Ma'am," Elsa said, feeling the need to chime in, "That was me."

"You," McGonagall said as she turned her attentions on Elsa, then she paused and took a double-take as she said, "You?"

The young woman of the group, whom Elsa was named Hermione, had a more extreme reaction than McGonagall when she noticed her. When Hermione had stumbled back a step and started hyperventilating, Elsa had initially thought it was from fear. She wouldn't have been surprised, as her own people had that same reaction when her powers were exposed during her coronation. However, Elsa soon came to understand that Hermione was actually something close to being awestruck as she began stammering, "You-you-you-El-El-El…"

"Hermione, Ron, I'd like to introduce you to my friends Queen Elsa and Princess Anna of Arendelle," Harry introduced them, "Elsa, Anna, my best friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger."

"A pleasure," Elsa said as she went to take Hermione's hand in greeting, upon which she thought Hermione was going to faint before she recovered and turned to Harry and said, "Wait! Harry, did you just say you were friends with Queen Elsa? One of the only witches or wizards who not only managed to successfully master the use of elemental ice magic, but also to successfully control it without a wand? _That_ Queen Elsa? Harry, I so freaking want to kill you now!"

"Wow, Hermione I don't think I've ever heard you sound this star-struck before!" Ron commented, sounding amused, "Not even back when you had that crush on Gilderoy Lockhart!"

"Oh shut up, Ronald!" Hermione replied sulkily, "I'm long over that fraud now."

"Ms. Granger, please!" McGonagall called out before focusing on Harry and saying, "Harry, this is very serious! One of the most important rules of time magic is that you not be seen by or interact with anyone in the past, and not only have you been seen by many people, but you've directly interacted with one of the most important people in magical history!"

"It couldn't be helped," Elsa said in Harry's defense, "When Harry arrived he had accidentally got into a little scuffle with Aurora, my dragon, and I'm afraid I had misunderstood what was going on at the time….It's all a long story."

Elsa saw the big guy, Hagrid, mouth the word "dragon" before he started looking around. Then, when Hagrid spotted them still perched loyally on the Fjord's ramparts, he stumbled back much like Hermione had as he said, "Blimey! Are those…?"

Elsa nodded, then she waved them over. As they landed, in front of an awestruck Hagrid, Elsa said, "This is Aurora, my Flightmare, and that one is Thunderhead, Anna's Thunderdrum."

"Well aren't you a pair of beauts!" Hagrid said in admiration, "Let me look at you! I've never seen anything like you before!"

"Really?" Harry said in disbelief, "Even you?"

Hagrid shook his head as he eagerly said, "I've never even heard of these species in my studies! Tell me, what are their flight capabilities? Are these fully grown, or will they get even bigger? How hot does their fire get?"

"Uh, Hagrid, these two don't breathe fire," Harry kindly corrected him, "The Flightmare, that blue dragon of Elsa's, she breathes out a mist that temporarily paralyzes, much like being Petrified. As for the other one, Anna's Thunderdrum, it uses a powerful concussive roar for his main attack. I haven't seen that last one myself, but I hear it's rather impressive to behold."

"Wow!" Hagrid said as he stroked Aurora's muzzle, "Truly amazing!"

"Everyone, can we please try to focus here?" McGonagall tried again, "This is a very serious matter here!"

"Yeah, like the human popsicle over there, for starters," Ron pointed out, "I seriously don't like the shade of blue he's starting to turn."

"Of course," Elsa acknowledged. Then as she started to wave her hand, she stopped short and asked, "Could someone go over there and take his wand from him?"

"On it," Hermione volunteered immediately. When Hermione was close enough, Elsa began the process of dissolving the ice over Gideon's main body, carefully making sure to keep his ice gag intact and exposing the wand first. Once Hermione had slid the wand out of Gideon's hand, Elsa focused on exposing the rest of him, shifting and re-forming the remaining ice until the only ice left on him was the gag on his mouth and a pair of beautifully formed ice shackles binding his wrists behind his back. Once his feet were freed, Elsa had expected him to make a break for it. However, the cold had apparently robbed him of much of his strength, and Gideon would have slammed face first into the street had Hermione not caught him and laid him more gently down. "So just who is he?"

"He's Gideon Hewett, " Elsa told them, "A Death Eater. He'd brought Harry and Gunny here because he thought that would be the easiest way to kill Harry without interference from the Ministry."

"Really?" Ron asked in shocked disbelief, "I had thought that when you killed Voldemort we would be done with people trying to kill us!"

"Apparently not," Harry told him, "He had even rigged a Time Turner in my parents' home as a trap to send me here, all so he could kill me and become the Dark Lord of the new Death Eaters."

"Wow, that's so messed up!" Ron said as Hermione backed away from Gideon in disgust.

"Yeah, well it didn't work out so well for him," Elsa said as she looked at Gideon with contempt, "The only person he managed to kill was my friend Michael, who took a spell intended for me and Harry."

"Well, you can be sure that your friend will see the justice that he deserves," McGonagall assured her as Hagrid roughly slung Gideon over his shoulder, carried him over to the bike, then shoved him headfirst into the sidecar so hard that Elsa heard a clang.

"As for you, Harry, were it anyone else I would be asking for your wand right now until an official Ministry hearing could be held to clear up this matter," McGonagall told him, "but now that I think I understand everything that's going on I feel I can let you hang onto it. I still cannot be sure what the Ministry's response will be to this incident, but there's a possibility that once it's explained to them you'll be left in the clear."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said gratefully.

"Anyway, you'll need it for the moment," McGonagall told him, "We're going to have our hands full performing Memory Charms on everyone who witnessed this incident tonight."

" 'Memory Charms'?" Elsa asked Harry.

"It's a spell that will erase from their minds the memory of what happened tonight," Harry explained to her.

Elsa then got a hard look on her face as she turned to McGonagall and firmly said, "No."

"I beg your pardon?" McGonagall said as she faced Elsa.

"You will not be meddling with the memories of any of my people," Elsa commanded her, "My friend Michael died tonight nobly trying to save my life. He died a hero, and he deserves to be remembered as such. I will not have you messing around with that!"

"But we have to, my dear," McGonagall reasoned with her, "The Statute of Secrecy…"

"…does not exist here," Elsa cut her off, "Nor does your Ministry. Gideon said as much, that's why he went through the trouble of dragging Harry here in the first place. However, Harry had explained earlier why the Statute was enacted, why it's important your world remains hidden from the Muggles who share it, so it's okay. My people here have kept my secret since they've learned about it six months ago, they can keep yours too."

"Of course," one of her soldiers, who finally managed to get out of the palace once the barrier failed, agreed, "I will never betray my queen, my lady. Your secret is safe."

"Queen Elsa and her family has always been good to us, so we would never hurt her," a baker added, "Our lips are sealed."

Maggie, who was still leaning over Michael's body, lifted her tear-streaked face to look at McGonagall and say in her ravaged voice, "So long as my husband's murderer faces justice for what he's done, then no one else will learn of how he died tonight."

"Our people are as loyal to my daughter as they ever were to my wife and I, perhaps even more so," Elsa's father assured McGonagall, "so no further magic will be necessary. Your secret is safe with us."

"This is highly unusual, and I cannot imagine that there has been any precedent for anything like this, but since no Aurors have shown up to contradict what you're saying I cannot argue," McGonagall acknowledged, then as she tucked her wand away she added, "I cannot guarantee that a Ministry clean-up crew won't be along later to perform the Memory Charm anyway, but at the very least I will not be the one to do it."

"Thank you, my lady," Elsa's father told her gratefully.

"Thank your daughter, she turned out to be rather convincing," McGonagall responded, "You've obviously raised her well." Elsa's father smiled and nodded in acknowledgement, though Elsa saw some doubt in his eyes as to whether or that that was true. Then McGonagall cleared her throat, and the air around her became stuffy once more as she said, "Well, we should get going before someone breaks any more laws and we _all_ get thrown into Azkaban!"

"Wait, Professor. There's something I'd like to ask you before I get distracted and forget," Harry asked McGonagall as he stopped her.

"Yes, Potter, what is it?" McGonagall replied kindly, though Elsa still heard the anxiety in her voice.

"Assuming that the Ministry doesn't strip me of my wand or anything, I was wondering if I might be allowed to come back to Hogwarts to finish my last year of education I never got to take," Harry asked her earnestly.

"Really?" McGonagall replied in a confused tone.

"What!?" Ron exclaimed in shocked disbelief, "You mean that after everything we went through last year, after everything that's happened the last _seven_ years you want to go _back_ to school!?"

"Ronald's right," McGonagall agreed, "Since you vanquished Voldemort and saved the wizarding world there isn't a witch or wizard who would deny you a job."

"But I don't want to just get a position based on my fame," Harry countered, "but rather because I can do the job. I would still like to get a job as an Auror for the Ministry, but I feel that there's still so much I need to learn in order to do the job well, and I can't do that on my own. It it'll make you feel better I'll gladly take a test to see if there's any classes I can opt-out on, but I want my N.E.W.T. scores to show what I can do, not let it be dictated by someone else's misguided impression of me."

"I can tell you've put a lot of thought into this, Harry," McGonagall said to him, her gaze softening fondly as she sighed and said, "I don't know if it can be done, but if so then I'll gladly take you back this next year."

"Wait professor!" Hermione called out, "I'd like to finish my education as well!"

"You too, Hermione?" Ron exclaimed, then he sighed a groan as he raised his hand and said, "Okay, fine! I want to come back too."

"Really Ron?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"We've faced a lot the last seven years, and we survived it all because we've been together. I'm not about to let us get separated now," Ron explained, "If you guys are going back to Hogwarts, than I am too."

"Well, good!" Hermione said gratefully as she kissed him.

"Alright then, if Harry can come back then the rest of you can as well," McGonagall conceded, "Now can _please_ get out of here now? I'd like our world to still be there when we get back."

The other nodded their agreement and they all gathered around Hagrid's bike. Then Harry held McGonagall's broom while she took a golden pendant from around her neck and extended the chain as far as it would go. Then she looped the chain around everyone gathered around the bike, taking care to make one tight loop around the unconscious Gideon's foot, before she began to spin the pendant's centerpiece really fast.

"Goodbye Anna, Elsa," Harry called out as McGonagall's pendant became a blur of motion, "We'll never forget you!"

"Same here," Elsa called back, "Take care Ginny, Harry!" Then Harry and his friends shimmered like a fading mirage, then they were gone without a trace.

"They were not here very long, but I'm sure going to miss them," Anna told Elsa as she laid a hand on her shoulder, which Elsa patted as she said, "Me too." Then Elsa looked over at the only trace that Harry and the others were ever here before having her guards collect Michael's body, doing her best to not break down as she discuss with his family the plans for his funeral arrangements, then she and Anna offered mutual comfort as they proceeded into the palace.

* * *

Back in his own time in The Burrow, Harry was packing his things as he reflected on the events of the last few weeks. Both his and Gideon's trials turned out to be rather speedy ones, beating out even the one where the Ministry had tried to get him before for using magic in front of a Muggle, even though back then he'd been trying to save himself and Dudley from a Dementor attack.

In Gideon's trial, it proved rather difficult to prove that he had killed Michael Sinclair. Despite the fact that Priori Incantato showed that his wand _had_ cast the curse that killed Michael, the fact remained that the murder had occurred over a hundred years ago, not to mention that Gideon had been telling the truth about how the Ministry had no jurisdiction there. Of course Harry couldn't get any more details about why they had no presence there (they were rather unnerved that Harry knew _that_ much), and while the citizens of Arendelle had kept their word about keeping secret the events of that night, that proved counter-productive in obtaining a conviction for Michael. However, Gideon's deliberate tampering with a Time Turner, attempted murder of Harry himself, and his overall endangerment of wizarding history was enough on its own to earn Gideon several lifetime sentences in Azkaban without possibility of release, so in a roundabout way Michael saw justice after all.

As for Harry's own trial, he was both relieved and chagrined that his renewed fame had once again made him untouchable as far as the Ministry was concerned. Since they had just finished convicting Gideon seconds ago, they determined that he was responsible for Harry being back there in the first place (apparently Ginny's presence there was never mentioned at all) and that the actions Harry took while there were not unreasonable in the course of his trying to return to his proper time. Therefore, they summarily dropped all charges against him with a warning that he take greater care should it ever happen again. They even approved of him and his friends returning to Hogwarts without any trouble, despite that they were all past the graduating age.

His thoughts were interrupted when Ron rushed into the guest room Harry was staying in, accidentally banging into the door frame in the process, and he belted out, "Hurry up, Harry, or we'll miss the train!" Then Harry simply focused on finishing packing his bags quickly. As he finished he absentmindedly reached over to grab Hedwig's cage, only to be painfully reminded that she wasn't here anymore, before he grabbed his bags and threw them into the Weasley's car. The rest of the trip passed in a blur: the frantic drive though the streets of London, the familiar rush to platform 9 3/4, and the pile onto the train just before it took off. It wasn't until he had reached their room on the Gryffindor car that Harry felt relaxed enough again that his thoughts began to wander once more. Since someone else had been named Prefect during their absence last year, Ron and Hermione would be sharing this room with him, along with Ginny, during what would be their last ride up ho Hogwarts (that is, of course, unless any of them returned in the future as teachers or something). In a way, Harry found it to be fitting, and as he headed to his future he felt himself wondering what had happened to Elsa and Anna since they left, if Elsa ever found the peace and happiness that she truly deserved.

"Ah-hah!" Hermione announced with her arm deep into her bottomless bag, "Here it is!" Then she pulled out of it a large and thick book.

"A book," Ron said with an amused chuckle, though he had a kind smile when he said it, "Of course you've spent all this time looking for a book. That's what I love about you."

"I found it during my fifth year," Hermione explained, apparently deciding to treat Ron's words as a compliment as she flipped quickly through the pages, "and when we went on our hunt for the Horcruxes I had to bring it along. Anyway, it was in here that I'd read about her. Turns out there wasn't much information to find about her personally, just basic stuff of course, but I found what it didn't say to be the most fascinating. In truth, when I found that passage she secretly became my role model."

"Who?" Ginny asked.

Hermione gave them all the exasperated look Harry was so familiar with as she answered, "Queen Elsa, of course!"

"Really?" Harry asked, his interest peaking as he leaned in for a closer look at the book.

"Right, here it is," Hermione announced as she found her place and began to read, "_Elsa, Queen of Arendelle, is historically significant in a number of ways. Not only was she one of the only witches or wizards allowed to hold a position of power in the Muggle world since the establishment of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy back in 1689, but she is also one of the only known masters of the exceptionally rare gift of elemental ice magic, able to control it with neither a wand nor any known incantations._"

"Does it say why she was allowed to remain their Queen?" Harry asked eagerly.

"No it doesn't!" Hermione answered him irritably, "Now, shh!_ Though her reign was marked by an attempted coup, a failed invasion, and a number of disappearances, including an incident where she was abducted by pirates, that reign remains one of the most peaceful and prosperous in the histories of both wizards and Muggles. She wound up being succeeded by twin children, a boy and a girl, of which the son inherited the same magical gift as his mother while the daughter got a different gift that was just as rare._"

When Hermione looked up from the page, letting him know she was done reading, Harry said, "Well that's a relief."

"A relief?" Ginny asked Harry.

"Yeah," Harry replied, "Not only did it seem that they managed to keep their promise about not revealing that we were ever there, but it seems that Elsa was able to find her happiness as well."

"Was she?" Hermione countered, "I'm not sure about that."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked her for clarification, "You just read it. She was 'succeeded by twin children', right?"

"True," Hermione conceded, "But I was actually thinking about the previous passage, about how her reign was marked by 'a number of disappearances'."

"Yeah, Elsa told me about that," Harry explained, "Apparently, after her sister helped save her from the pirates, they had bounced around time for a bit before they wound up finding their way back home."

"Yes, but that was during _one_ disappearance, correct?" Hermione emphasized, "but this book mentions that there were a _number_ of them."

Harry was silent for a moment as that sank in before he asked, "But what does that mean?"

"I think it means that Elsa's adventures have yet to be done," Hermione answered in a somber tone.

_To be continued in "Cold Wind, Hot Water"_


End file.
